Found Out Of Water
by Sugarsweet0909
Summary: A story about mermaids and love of course! DQ/SC XQ/ZY Please review!
1. Introduction

This is my first fanfic so please be nice and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dynasty Warriors. Though I wish I did...

**Found Out Of the Water**

Atlantica, a place for mermaids which no humans knew existed. Atlantica was ruled by the royal family Hosokawa which was blessed with many children, nine to be precise. Some of these children in the process of growing up, the eldest of the children was Cuifen. She was fourteen years old and was mature beyond her years. Since she had turned thirteen she had long inquired about leaving Atlantica to see the world beyond the sea. She had been to surface but never onto land, she would only put her head above water until one day when she was watching the humans on the beach she caught two people looking back at her, a man and a woman. She gasped and immediately dunked back under. The two people watched amazed when they saw her light pink glistening tailfin.

Cuifen came back the next day, she rose in front of a big slab of rock which people used to sit on when they were tired to swim. She smiled she was sure no one could be here. She froze however when she heard soft talking above her. She swallowed as she looked above her; two people were lying on the rock. Cuifen could just about see their heads through the shining light of the sun. She crept backwards an inch so her back was on the rock and made sure to stay quiet as she tried to listen to their conversation. She thought that they might have been the two people she saw yesterday. The man adjusted his glasses. "So, Lord Sun's still away?"

The girl nodded sadly before sighing and patting her stomach "Yes, I hope he comes back safe. To tell you the truth I don't see why he had to go in the first place, just to go to war"

Cuifen's face squinted at his words. _'War…?' _having never heard of the term

He nodded in agreement "I know but when he comes back, you'll be married and all the conflict will be over. The land will be united under the Sun banner and a little child"

Cuifen's face went even more squinted at another term she did not recognise.

The girl nodded before adjusting her hair clip, she did not see it fall out and go over the edge "Suppose so…"

Cuifen looked at the clip in wonder having never seen one before; she lifted her hand gently to her taking the clip and looking at it as close as she could with out hurting her eyes. It was long and silver with shiny lilac butterflies. She let it gleam in the sun and it set out shines fascinating Cuifen. She gently opened it and placed one of her fingers inside and it snapped shut, catching her by surprise and cutting the finger where the clip was. She dragged the clip off and held it away from her looking at it like it was an enemy while sucking her finger. That was when the woman noticed her clip was gone and felt her long hair against the rock.

She grunted "I swear when I finally get married, my hair is getting cut short"

The man pushed up his thin glasses as he watched the beaming sun against the waves.

The woman sat up and looked around before huffing. "I think my clip went over the edge"

This made Cuifen's hand come back and she froze.

She looked over and gasped at the sight of Cuifen who in turn dived under causing a wave to hit her.

She gasped from the coldness causing the man to look just in time to see her tailfin. He watched the tailfin move around the rock to go deeper into the sea, before he threw off his glasses next to his friend before diving into the ocean.

His friend watched with a wet face. "Xuan what are you doing?!"

He didn't listen as he tried to follow her though she was much faster than he was.

Cuifen kept going until she stopped suddenly and looked around seeing no one, she sighed in relief before noticing that she still had that girls clip. She thought about what to do with it, she certainly didn't want to keep it, stealing was wrong and besides it hurt her in her eyes it was a bad thing whatever it was.

Due to her distraction she didn't see Xuan swim under her and come up directly in front of her making her scream in fear.

He gently took hold of her elbows to keep her from swimming away.

She cowered and closed her eyes in fear. "Please don't hurt me!" she cried with such fear it surprised him

He made gentle shushing noises when he saw her start to cry. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you"

When she heard his words she gently opened her eyes still cowering and weary of him.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't m-mean a-any h-harm," she said so quiet he almost didn't hear

Her eyes suddenly shot open and she got all the courage she had in her before swimming straight "I promise I won't do it again, j-just p-please don't hurt me!" she gasped at her outburst and resumed her cowering position and closing her eyes.

He gently shushed her as he heard her start to whimper. He gently let go of one of her elbows and started to stroke her cheek hoping to calm her. "You don't have anything to apologize for; you're not doing any harm. Its fine, I'm not going to hurt you"

Cuifen slowly opened her eyes, he was really confusing her, "Th-then what do you w-want?"

He smiled softly at her "I just wanted to make sure you were okay"

She tilted her head in confusion.

It was then he noticed small drops of blood on his arm but knew he wasn't hurt; he looked down and saw strained blood near her hand. He took his hand off her cheek and loosened his hand on her elbow so it was just placed there making it easy for her to swim away if she wanted to. He smiled when she stayed put and watched his every move flicking from his hand to his face as he gently lifted her hand and looked to see a slight cut.

"It looked like you need a plaster" he told her

She tilted her head again making him smile; she was a little taken back considering he was a human. "P-laster…?"

He gave a small laugh which made her a little easier. "I guess they don't have them where you're from"

Cuifen shook her head with a hint of a smile.

"Well how about this then" he said softly before gently raising her hand to his mouth and carefully placing his lips to the cut making her go wide eyed.

She suddenly felt very hot and could feel her cheeks heating up; she quickly placed her free hand to her cheek and she turned her face away.

He smiled as he looked at her, "If I may ask what your name is?" he asked politely

She looked at him stunned before thinking he had some other motive "What's yours!?" she asked somewhat rudely though he did not take offence

"Qiao Xuan" he replied

Cuifen put her hand that was on her cheek to her chin as if in thought and forgot about him.

"Hm, Papa did always say to be polite" she said as she looked deep in thought, he opened his mouth to ask her another question before she carried on "But he said not to talk to strangers especially humans"

This caused him to chuckle and she turned to him abruptly.

"How old are you?" he asked nicely

She looked at him strangely "Fourteen"

"You're practically a child then" he cried

This was not the right thing to do as she snatched her hand from him she had forgot she was holding and took offence to what he said. "No I'm not. I'm almost fifteen, that's when I get married. Thank you very much!"

He was a little taken back, "I didn't mean any offence"

"I going now, don't try and follow me!" she cried moodily

He took hold of one of her arms gently. "Hey, wait please"

She looked back at her arm and then him. "What?"

"Will you be here tomorrow?" he asked subtly

She looked at him oddly "Why?"

He smiled at her "I would like to see you again"

Her eyebrows raised in surprise as she watched getting a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Um…I'll think about it, mister" she said before diving into the sea.

He watched until her tailfin went under before making his way back to his friend.

She watched him leave from the sea bed before noticing something shiny just in front of her; she picked it up to see it was that girls clip she had dropped. She looked at it curios as she made her way home she wondered about what to do with it.

When Xuan and his friend returned back to his house where she was staying and had a surprise when her fiancé was there in the hall, she blamed Xuan for not keeping up with the war. When he found she was expecting they were married that very night much to her delight.

The next day Xuan lay on the rock, the sun blisteringly hot. He was falling asleep due to his friend's late night wedding. His eyes closed and he was quickly falling asleep when a wave of water washed over him, he thought it was just the tide until he heard a girls giggles.

He opened his eyes and sat up to see Cuifen in the water.

She put her hands on the side and went down, so all he could was he eyes, so as she could hide her giggles.

He put his glasses on and moved straight to the edge and she looked at him funny with her eyes.

"Hello again, was that you?" he asked kindly

He could see her hide her giggles making him smile at her.

She slowly lifted the rest of her head and rested it on the top of her hands when she placed them on the rock.

"Thank you for coming" he said softly

"Its fine mister, I was going to anyway" she said carefully

"Please call me Xuan"

She let go of the side and started to float in the water.

"So, do you leave near here?" he asked

She nodded "Yeah, right at the bottom"

He sat back as he watched her. "What's it like?"

She stopped floating and faced him. "It's okay, I guess"

"What do you do?" asked Xuan

She sighed hard. "Nothing much, just school"

He gave a small laugh "You don't like it?"

She sighed before started to float again "It's not that, school okay though I have to do it with my brothers and sisters" she sighed again "I'm not allowed out much though, I just practice with my seashells and when I am allowed out, can't do anything fun people stop me and tell me to be proper, so I come here instead"

"Why aren't you allowed out much?" he asked continuing with his questions

She made bubbles with her mouth making her giggle before answering him. "Because Papa says that we must only talk to people in town when there is an event"

He looked at her in confusion "Does your father tell everyone what to do?"

She nodded "Of course he's the king"

Xuan nodded understanding "What about your mother?"

Cuifen shook her head "She got sick and died before I was born"

Xuan burrowed his eyebrows "I don't understand"

"What?" she asked distracted from watching people on the beech

"That she died before you were born. Here if the mother was still carrying the child when she died so would the child" he explained

She looked to him. "Oh, I don't know what carrying is but in Atlantica the mother lays her eggs and then they wait, my sisters were all born at the same time and they look the same too, no one else is like that"

He nodded "You said practice with seashells, what did you mean?"

She looked at him oddly "Why do you keep asking so many questions?"

He smiled at her "I'm sorry, I just don't want you to swim away"

She thought for a moment before giving a small nod "Okay, I'll be back in a minute"

Before he could stop her she went softly back under the ocean.

A couple of seconds she came back with two small shells. "Sorry these were the best I could find. It might not be very good; I'm used to sitting down when I'm doing it"

"Sit up here" he suggested

She put her shells down before trying to push herself but not being strong enough with her tailfin but Xuan held her just above her tailfin and helped. She sat on the edge and some of her tailfin was still in water.

"Sorry my fin's too heavy" she cried but he smiled at her and he noticed the tailfin still in the water starting to sway

He didn't know how she did it but she made beautiful music come out of the shells. He observed her while she played. She had the greenest eyes he'd ever seen with mousy brown hair, she was undoubtedly the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. He looked at her attentively until she suddenly stopped.

"I guess it doesn't work above water" she said before putting the shells down and facing him. "You look kind of breathless"

He nodded blankly "I guess you're right, but it was beautiful"

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked with an innocent face

He nodded "Please"

She thought about what to ask first "Okay, what's a war?"

He looked at her strangely.

"You were talking about something with some human and she said it…and conflict! What does that mean?" she asked

He thought for a moment "Well…it when lots of people called an army fight against other armies to get control of the land or to gain more, a lot of people get hurt"

She nodded "That's really stupid, there's no conflict at all in Atlantica"

"That must be nice" he said softly

She shook her head "No, everyone's so boring and nice; it must be good to be a human"

"Why do you say that?" he asked curios

"Because up here you can do what you want, there's so much more freedom. You're not told what to think and you all act on impulse. In Atlantica no one says a bad word against each other. I'd love to be human" she explained

He nodded understanding "I can understand why you would want to be"

She looked at into the ocean "You know when I first came up here and looked at the beech, the first thing I saw was this girl in this white dress, it was the nicest thing I'd ever seen before. I'd love to be human just so I could wear a dress and look as happy as she did, she was with a man and when he turned around and saw her he walked straight up to her with a really big grin and kissed her. I don't know how she breathed because he wouldn't let go and there was all these people round them standing in rows all smiling at them. Ever since then I've come up here and watched what humans do now every time when I wake up in my room, Atlantica just seems like a prison getting smaller every time I wake"

He looked at her concerned "You sound very unhappy down there"

She nodded looking away from him "Yeah but whenever I ask about being human, papa always says you are a princess, you must follow decorum"

"He's probably just concerned about you" he told her

She shook her head "No, he thinks I'll get bored after a day and he'll just waste his energy in turning me"

"Oh" he said simply

She faced him with sadness "Though I wouldn't! When I come up here I never want to leave it" she sighed sadly

He watched her with concern. "I forgot, this is for you"

She watched him take something small out of his pocket and pealed some paper off; he went to touch her hand before stopping a centimetre away.

"May I?" he asked nicely

Cuifen made no hesitation before nodding and he gently wrapped the paper which she assumed was a plaster round her giving a gentle shock when he touched her and she soon felt her cheeks going red again.

Before the two could say anything his friend jumped up behind him, trying to scare him but they weren't paying attention as he continued to watch her and she continued to blush.

She stood up straight getting a warning from her husband at the beech to be careful. She walked over to Cuifen and kneeled down near her. "Hey, I remember you from yesterday"

Cuifen gave a silent gasp before turning her attention to her. "W-what..?"

She smiled at her "Hi, what's your name?"

Cuifen looked at her in a daze and only just about heard what she said. "C-Cuifen"

"Nice to meet you, mines Li" she cried happily

Cuifen started to come back to her senses "Thank you" she said before remembering something "Oh this is yours" she said before opening a clam that was stuck onto a long string of pearls round her shoulder. She got out her clip and held it out to her "Here, you dropped it yesterday"

Li smiled at it "No thanks you can have it"

Cuifen shook her head "I can't accept it-"

Li pushed the clip back at her "I insist, I've got loads and I'm getting my hair cut short whether Sun Jian likes it or not"

"What does it do?" asked Cuifen

"It keeps the hair out of your face" replied Li

Cuifen nodded understanding "I have star fish that sort of do that but their mostly for decoration" she explained before showing her the starfish making Li's eye brows rise when she saw one of them move "And they sing to, though that can get tiresome"

Li laughed "They're pretty"

Li put up her hair using the clip before going to the side of her

"But can I ask something of you in return?" cried Li

Cuifen nodded "What is it?"

Li looked at her cheekily "Can I touch your tailfin?"

"Huh?" was her immediate reaction before seeing she was not joking and turned slightly "Uh…sure" she replied surprised

Li smiled before touching it slightly "It's a really nice colour"

Cuifen smiled a little "Thank you"

The two sat talking about things and when Li asked for Xuan's opinion he gave one worded answers making her conceal her laugh when she saw it was because of Cuifen. True he had been unable to take his eyes off her the entire time though she did not notice most of the time.

"Can I ask why you keep doing that?" asked Cuifen as she noticed her continuously rubbing her stomach

Li smiled "I'm expecting, I'm five moths gone"

Cuifen nodded "Oh how long have you been bonded for?"

Li chuckled making Cuifen think she was somewhat of a manly woman with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. "We call it a marriage up here and it was late last night"

This made Cuifen's eyebrows rise quickly "That's forbidden in Atlantica, but then again so is coming up to the surface and talking to humans, so I'm not much better"

Li grinned at how she thought the two situation were the same "True, up here it is a scandal that's why we're staying here until the baby's born then we'll go to the palace"

Cuifen nodded understanding "You're so lucky he would do it, boys in Atlantica are so shy it's annoying"

Li smiled before noticing something in the distance "What's that?"

Cuifen looked to see what looked like just a wooden box without a top on and she tilted her head in confusion.

"Xuan, go and see what it is" requested Li

"…" came his reply

"No it's to far for any of you, I'll go" she cried before diving back into the sea though she thought it was nothing, she didn't know that much about humans and if they made such a big deal about a box who was she to question

Li watched the pink tailfin until it disappeared before turning to Xuan "What are you doing?"

He looked straight ahead "What do you mean?"

Li rolled her eyes "You know what I mean…Xuan you know it can't end well she's a mermaid"

Xuan shook his head "I don't know what you mean"

She scoffed "Yes you do, you've been staring at her ever since I came and you've forgotten your own language, you're probably scaring her"

Before he could reply Cuifen came back with the medium sized box.

"I don't know how you saw it, but there is something" she cried

Li looked to her "What is it?"

Cuifen pushed the box up to the side from the water and placed it on the rock.

Li looked inside "Oh my, I didn't think there was actually something in there, let alone children"

Cuifen smiled at them, inside were two baby girls, they couldn't have been more than ten months. One of them was asleep and the other giggling as Cuifen played with her.

"There's a note too but I can't read it" said Cuifen before picking it out and holding it out to them

Li took it and read it aloud "Sorry" she looked at them sadly "Those poor children, their mother probably couldn't keep them. I'll take them back with me if that's okay, they might be hungry"

Cuifen nodded in agreement before Li picked it up and turned to Xuan "I take it you're staying"

Xuan nodded.

Li sighed "Okay, don't be to long, the tides coming in" she cried before turning back to Cuifen "Bye, I hope I meet you again"

Cuifen smiled widely before waving innocently and Li left shortly after with the two girls.

Cuifen took the clip out of her hair letting her hair loose, she examined at the clip. "You're not meant to put your finger in it. Hm guess it's not bad after all and it is shiny" she said to herself

Xuan didn't know why he did what he did next; he blamed it in her innocence she so obviously bestowed. He stood up and kneeled in front of her making her look at him surprised. He placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her making go wide eyed in surprise. He thought he had scared her and was about to stop when he felt her react, so he moved closer and put himself in the water with her. He put a hand behind her neck feeling her wet hair and the other on her waist just above her tailfin while she put hers on his shoulders. He continued to kiss her until she felt his tongue on her lips and she wasn't sure what to do until she felt it come into contact with her own sending shocks all the way down her making the bottom of her tailfin slightly jerk and it felt like she was getting tickled and she had to stop herself from giggling.

This continued for a year, he continued to see her everyday despite Li's warnings about how she was mermaid. He told her things about the humans making her want to become one even more. Li gave birth to baby boy, and almost immediately after was pregnant again, she looked after the two girls giving them a home feeling like they were her own two daughters.

Cuifen sat next to Xuan on the rock, her tailfin laid limply without the water.

"You know he said he'd consider it soon" she told him

Xuan nodded somewhat distant "If you were human, I'd marry you in an instant"

Cuifen looked at him surprised but by the way he said it and the way he looked she was sure she wasn't meant to hear it. Instead she looked out at the ocean. The sun reflected onto it making the ocean look like it was on fire.

"Beautiful" she breathed

Xuan smiled at her "It's looks good when the moons out too"

"I'd love to see the moon properly, I can only see glimpses of it from my room" she told him

"Why don't you? There's a full moon tonight too" he asked her

She thought for a moment "I guess I could though it's be scary on my own"

"I'll be here" he cried

Cuifen smiled and nodded "Okay then, I'll come"

That evening she approached her father in the throne room. He smiled when he saw her until he saw the look in her eyes and he sighed.

"Cuifen, everyday must you ask?" he asked tiredly

Her father had a light green tailfin with light brown hair and light green eyes.

"Papa I'm going to ask until you say yes" she replied determined

He looked at her determined face "If you really want it but there are a lot of terms here"

She nodded eagerly "I'll do anything"

He shook his head "No, you don't have to do much"

She looked at him confused "What do you mean?"

"It's on the table over there, bring that piece of cloth to me" he requested

She swam over to a small table by the entrance of the room and picked up the piece of paper before squinting her eyebrows "I can't read it, it's in their language"

"I know it is, bring it here and I will. I got it out days ago, I knew you wouldn't forget about this" he cried

His daughter complied wondering how long he'd been able to read the human language.

He sighed as he looked at the list "I warn you its long" Cuifen nodded understanding and he began "Okay, the only part concerning you is when you go into our ocean, this ocean only your fin will come back"

She looked at him "Will it be permanent?"

He shook his head "No as soon as you go back onto land it'll go"

She sighed in relief "Is that all?"

"No, the rest concerns any children you have" he replied sadly

"What makes you think-"she was cut off when he started to chuckle and she looked at him in confusion.

"To be honest if there wasn't someone who would take care of you I'd wouldn't let you go, as long as he looks after you" he cried

Cuifen couldn't help but smile "He will, I promise and he's real nice too but um I didn't mean to disobey you papa"

He smiled at her "Its okay dear, as long as you're happy"

"Thank you papa"

"Okay, now the rest of it," he said "first thing, you can only have daughters"

She nodded "Okay" she cried chirpy

"Like you anytime they go into water their fins will come but this isn't just our ocean it's any water anytime"

She nodded "Okay" A hint of the chirpiness gone

He sighed "Now here's when it gets worse"

"I'm ready" she told him

He looked at her "Next your eldest daughter will have to find her voice"

"I don't understand…" she cried confused

"You will someday. Next they must spend three months of year in Atlantica until the eldest or only daughter turns five then they must stay here until the youngest or only daughter turns fifteen, then they must three months of the year until the eldest or only daughter finds her voice and her true love" He explained

Cuifen didn't know what to say to this "Um…Is that it?"

He shook his head "There's a bit more, are you okay with it?"

She nodded with some determination "Yeah"

"If there is a younger daughter or daughters, then she cannot be married until the eldest has found a love willing to accept her, but the men must know of Atlantica and of their heritage" he explained

Cuifen went silent "Is it finished?"

He nodded "But when they come of age, I'll help the very best I can"

She gave him a small smile and it did help knowing he would help "Thank you"

"You might want to talk to him about it before finally making up your mind" he suggested after he swam to her and put his arm around her

She looked at him straight "Papa I still want to do this, nothing going to change that"

He looked to her surprised "B-but-"

She shook her head "No! Papa I don't to wait to do this, I've wanted this to long"

Her father looked at her stunned before quickly composing himself "Okay, Okay just go and talk to him then"

She nodded determined "Fine I'll go right now but I'm taking this, I'll forget otherwise" she snatched the cloth form his hands and started to swim out before he shouted to her.

"How do you know he'll even be there?

She turned around "Because he said he would be!"

When she arrived at the surface she found him already there, he helped her up and she sat her fin over his knees. She shivered from the cold.

"Here" he cried softly as he put his overcoat round her

"Thank you"

He looked at her concerned "What's wrong?"

"Oh, this" she said before giving him the cloth to read "It's in your language, it'll happen if I become human"

He nodded as he took and read it; after he was done he looked at her sad face. "It's not that bad you know"

She looked up to him "You don't mind?"

He shook his head "No, besides it can all be fixed"

She smiled at him before tackling the best she could without legs. "Thank you" she whispered

He smiled as he put his arm round her.

There was a crash in the sky causing Cuifen to scream and hold on to him tighter.

He stroked her wet hair as she whimpered "its okay, its just thunder"

"It's scary, does it always happen?" she whimpered

"No, we rarely get them, but look over there" he said quietly

Cuifen looked to where he was pointing to see lightning she smiled "What's that? It's pretty"

He smiled at her "It's lightning, it comes with thunder"

She nodded before they heard thunder and she went buried her head in his chest. "I don't like thunder"

He put his arms around her as if to protect her making her feel safe. They sat like that for awhile until Cuifen knew she had to get back

"I should get back, I want to do this real soon" she cried

He slowly let her go, though he didn't like letting go of her. He smiled at the thought of being able to hold her whenever he wanted.

"Papa told me once, it takes a couple of hours so…"

"It's okay I'll be here in the morning" he cried

She smiled at him before getting ready to jump into the water.

"Wait" he said softly and waited until she had turned her head to face him "I love you"

She immediately brightened up even more than she usually was "You do?"

He nodded smiling.

This made her practically glow "That's good because I love you too"

He didn't waste anytime in kissing her which she gladly returned before she had to go.

When she returned she went straight to her father.

"Papa, please can we do it now?" she asked eagerly

Her father looked at her uneasy "Cuifen, I just don't think I can let you go that easily"

Her face fell "But you said I could do this!"

"I just feel that you shouldn't leave your home and your family for a human" he reasoned

"But I want to, I've wanted this long enough to know its never going to go away" she cried

"Cuifen I just don't feel right doing this for you please understand" he told her

Tears immediately started to pour out and she turned away to swim out.

"Cuifen, wait" he said concerned when she didn't stop he got slightly annoyed "I'm talking to you!"

She stopped abruptly and turned her head "This place really is like a prison" she quietly but he still managed to hear her

She immediately swam outside and cried on a seating clam.

After a while she noticed someone start to pat her back.

"Papa go away!!" she shouted from her arms

"I'm not your father" said a soft female voice

Cuifen looked up to see a octopus, well a human top off with octopus legs, if it had been in different circumstances she would have been friendly but she was just to upset.

"I heard about your situation and I can help" she told her

Cuifen sniffed "What do you mean?"

"Well introductions first princess, my name is Ai" she cried nicely

Cuifen nodded not in the mood for niceties and Ai could sense this and felt sorry for her.

"You know your father isn't the only one who can make you human"

Cuifen got a flicker of hope "He isn't? Then who else"

Ai concealed before raising her hands "Why me of course, but I would to ask something in return"

Cuifen nodded hurriedly "Yes, yes anything"

"My sister has had her first child, a girl just born today. I should stay the terms of the spell will be same as what your father told, if he did?" she cried

Cuifen nodded "He told me, but what is it?"

Ai smiled "Well, when your daughter comes down here, she will leave when she is fourteen, I wish for you to take my niece. As much as I love my sister, she is cruel to cruel. Will you promise me this?"

Cuifen immediately nodded "I promise, you have my word I will do it, just please turn me as soon as possible"

Ai smiled "Thank you, we'll do it now then" a sceptre appeared from no where and she concentrated. The king came out just in time to see a green light come out of the sceptre and hit Cuifen.

He immediately went up to his daughter.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was her tailfin and she burst into tears.

Ai went up to her "Princess what's wrong?"

"It…didn't…work" she said between sobs

Ai smiled "It takes a few hours princess, don't worry by dawn you should be human but be as close to the surface as you can, if you're to far away you could run out of air"

Cuifen nodded understanding before she noted her father's hurt look beside her. "Papa…"

"Are you going to apologize?" he asked her

She shook her head "No, you knew this is what I wanted and you ignored it, but if I really am going to be human then you should make your piece with this now"

He sighed sadly "I hope he's worth this"

"Why don't you tell the king about him? When I went up there I could see he cared about you. Your father told me to follow you and make sure you were safe" explained Ai

Cuifen slightly shook her head "I didn't know um thank you" she said as Ai smiled at her before turning to her father "Papa he's real nice you know"

Her father managed a nod "Why don't you tell me then?"

Cuifen nodded "Well um…he's two years older than me and he's got real dark black hair and real blue eyes. He's kind and so clever. He's funny, sweet and he said he loves me and…"

Her father chuckled "That's enough, I'm sure he's wonderful"

"Oh yeah and that too" cried Cuifen excitedly

"Why don't you go say bye to everyone?" suggested Ai

Cuifen nodded before going to find her siblings.

The king sighed "Why did you do that?"

She put a hand on his shoulder "You were keeping her here against her will and you know it; now she can choose what she wants"

He knew she was right but he still didn't want his daughter to go.

She said goodbye to all her family.

When it was a minute before dawn all her eight brothers and sisters stood watching along with her father and Ai. She suddenly went unconscious and a bright light surrounding her and her tailfin separated before producing two legs fitting in size with her body. Before the light dissipated her seashells turned into a one strap dress going halfway down the knee and flowing down the right side to her knee before light went out.

"Quickly get her up there!" ordered the King

Her two oldest brothers grabbed her and started swimming as fast as they could up to the surface.

Xuan was walking along the beach when he saw a man holding her girl and placing on the sand. He was quick to see the man had a tailfin a bright yellow one and as soon as he placed her, he saw Xuan but almost immediately after dived into the ocean with another that was with him.

When he saw the girl, he knew it was Cuifen, he ran straight to her and skidded to her and removed any hair that was on her face and as soon as he did she coughed up seawater. He grew a smile quickly when she opened her eyes softly and smiled at him.

"Xuan…?" she said just above a whisper before she noticed her toes and started to wiggle them making her giggle in happiness. She sat on her elbows as she watched them. She looked at Xuan "What do I do now?"

He continued to smile at her "Do you want to try and stand?"

She nodded before putting weight on her hands and trying to transition it to her feet but not sure how, before Xuan gently pushed her forward so she could do, he chuckled when she made a high pitched 'oh' sound in realisation. She gently tried to stand before quickly losing her balance and falling into Xuan who was more than happy to catch her.

She put a finger to her mouth blankly "What happened?"

He smiled "You just lost your balance but you did very well for a first time"

She giggled as she looked up to him "I did?"

He nodded "Why don't I carry you for now"

She carried on giggling as she nodded. "Okay, where are we going?"

He picked her up in his arms "Home, I'll help walk and stand there before we go and get you some clothes"

She blushed "Home…?"

He nodded at her "Of course"

"Okay but can we come back here I didn't feel the sand properly, but not when the waters all the way in" she said happily as he smiled at her

She looked around with eager eyes for new things before her mouth widened. "What's that?" she asked as she pointed to something

He looked to where she was pointing and continued to smile at her "It's a flower"

Her mouth formed an 'o' shape "Looks strange for a flower"

He walked over to it and bent down; keeping her enclosed to him he gently picked it up and gave it to her. She started to feel it.

"It feels…different, I guess coz it's not wet, right?" she asked to make sure

He nodded as she gently started to smell it. "Smells nicer up here too not of salt"

They carried on walking s she asked him what things were.

"What's that?" she asked excited

"Grass, you can sit on it and other things you'll find out" he replied

She nodded "And that?"

He looked at her with squinted eyebrows "Rocks"

She smiled stupidly as she raised her shoulders and turned them round continuously trying and succeeding to look innocent which only endeared her to him more.

"It's okay, you have all the time you need" he told her

Cuifen's face glowed like a star as she practically bounced, clapped and giggled in his arms excitedly.

Xuan taught her how to be a human and they married making her dream come true of wearing a white dress and she thought her wedding as he told her it was called was so much better then the woman she saw. It was a thin white going to halfway of her knee on the right side and smoothly flowing down to the floor on the left like the dress she wore on her first day with small starfish that gently swayed in the breeze and sang through out the ceremony making Li laugh. Li, her husband and her six month old child were the only ones present apart from the priest.

A year later she became pregnant when her father found out he made his first and he highly hoped his last visit to the surface and asked her from the bottom of his heart if she could be born in Atlantica. When he did ask so sincerely Cuifen never could say no since he ever occasionally did and this was no exception. Unlucky for the king and lucky for Xuan he had not been there so he could not interrogate him for taking away his eldest daughter.

Just an introduction to the story, the story will begin properly next chapter but you can guess who the couples are.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Deciding To Leave Home

**Disclaimer : I do not own Dynasty Warriors.**

**Found Out Of Water:**

**Chapter 2:**

Cuifen with the permission of Xuan went down to Atlantica and waited for her egg to hatch she was surprised when there were two eggs, born six months apart from each other. Least to say Xuan was happily surprised. Their two daughters were mixtures of them. Their eldest had his jet black hair and Cuifen's sparkling emerald eyes that still took his breath away. His youngest had Cuifen's mousy brown hair and his ocean sapphire eyes.

Contradicting the spell they were surprised when the eldest had a beautiful voice, melodic just like her mothers and their youngest too.

Apart from the three months they had too spend in Atlantica Cuifen never let them out of her sight, she would read them Atlantican stories before they fell asleep and let them have baths together when their fins would come out and the younger liked to see how much water she could get out of the bath encouraging the elder to join in with her and she eventually did, though her splashes were softer and more graceful though she followed her younger sister wherever she went and couldn't bear to be apart from her for more than a couple of minutes without starting to cry trying to get her younger sister to come and find her. She was a more reserved than her younger sister who was extremely innocent and childish always making her parents smile at her though she like her sister hated to be apart from her and lost some of her spark when she didn't know where she was but she had a lot already and still seemed fun and sweet. They made use of the time and taught them as much human language since the king would let them learn it in Atlantica since Cuifen had gone up, though with their age being so young they did not learn much.

When the eldest became the age of five Cuifen took them to Atlantica feeling heavy guilt in her heart at the fact that she had spent most of her time with them and could visit them whenever she could but Xuan had to wait ten years before he could see his most beloved daughters again but he knew it had to be done and never regretted letting them go if it meant his wife.

Once down there the eldest daughter lost her voice suddenly surprising everyone but their grandfather. Because of this growing up she learnt things a lot slower than her sister often making her sad though her sister would try and cheer her up, it didn't help her learn it any faster but it cheered her up somewhat. During language lessons she was told to say it in her mind which made her feel a little behind and left out though she did her best to hide it and always said that there were people who were in worse conditions than her and she should always be grateful for what she had but her sister knew she missed her voice. As time went by she grew used to it and communicated the best she could. She and her sister had code signs for certain things often annoying the teacher when the youngest would suddenly go into giggles.

On the day they were to return to the surface they stood in front of their grandfather who had begrudgingly taught them some of the human language though he saw it as the second thing that helped take his daughter away the first obviously being Xuan.

"Here" he said as he held out a two gold necklaces with a gold starfish the size of a small fish to her "Da, this is for you, if you put it round your neck and hold it, it'll start to glow and you'll be able to talk and hear Xiao through each others minds"

Da's face brightened and she immediately took it and put it round her neck. He put one in Xiao's hands "And this one is for you so you can hear Da, remember you are always welcome here"

Ai swam up to them with a young girl behind with a dark green fin while Da had a deep shiny red and Xiao a sapphire blue fin. The girl had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face as she huffed.

Ai stopped at them "Himiko is going with you"

The king turned and looked at her confused "Why?"

"Cuifen promised me that Himiko could besides there's no one to look after her down here since she won't let them" replied Ai looking at Himiko's sulking face

The king shook his head "Whatever you want"

Ai nodded satisfied "I've already performed the spell, let them get going I'm sure they miss their mother and father"

Xiao and Da nodded with smiles.

The king turned to his sons "Take them up there"

"But I don't want-!" objected Himiko loudly before being silenced by Ai

Cuifen and Xuan were waiting at the shore, Xuan was stood patiently while Cuifen was fidgeting as she waited impatiently.

Cuifen eyes widened in delight when she saw her daughters.

Her brothers set them down on the sand.

Cuifen waved to them her face beaming "Hi!"

They smiled at her before giving a small nod to Xuan in recognition he returned it before going to his daughters.

They turned to leave seeing their other brother looking around the water before looking to them and raising his shoulders signalling he'd lost Himiko.

They sighed before one turned back to Cuifen "See you Sister"

Cuifen waved like a child to them before they dived back into the water.

Cuifen kneeled in front of them as they coughed up water.

"Are you two okay?" asked Cuifen sweetly

Da nodded before looking at her mother with a serene smile.

Cuifen looked at her worried "What happened?"

Da tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Let's get them inside it's too cold to be outside" suggested Xuan

Cuifen nodded.

They took them home and sat them in front of the fire with blankets around them since it was close to winter.

Cuifen sat in the middle of them looking between them worried

"What happened?" she asked worried

Xiao moved her feet around neither if the two of them had remembered how to walk.

"I don't know as soon as we got down there, Sis stopped talking" replied Xiao

Cuifen turned to Da who smiled widely at her trying to make her feel better.

"Oh" cried Cuifen worried

Xuan came up behind them "I'm sure we can help"

Da nodded as Xuan put his arm round her comfortingly.

Cuifen shook her head still worried "But I don't remember the spell!"

Xiao remembered the scroll and held it in front of Cuifen "This is off Grandpa, but he doesn't know what else he can do"

Cuifen took it and opened it before tilting her head. She turned to Xuan sheepishly and held it out to him "Please…" she said innocently

He couldn't help but smile before taking it.

Cuifen crawled over to him eagerly before resting her hands on his arm as she looked at the scroll, followed by Xiao who used her hands to get over there before resting her hands on Da's head as Da slumped down due to Xiao's weight.

"What's it say?" asked Cuifen and Xiao excited as they peered over

"It says…" began Xuan "The voice is with the true love use the necklace to find it"

Cuifen deflated "Why is it always so confusing?"

Xiao switched between them "What's it about?"

Xuan shook his head "It can wait, the rest is just for us"

"For us?" asked Cuifen

Xuan nodded and it seemed to satisfy them.

"Okay" agreed Cuifen

Xiao tried moving her legs properly "You know I'm never going to have a bath again, I don't even remember how to stand!" she cried childishly

Cuifen clapped her hands together in delight "I can help!"

The two of them watched as Cuifen began to show them before looking at each other confused at her display.

The next day Da sat by the fountain looking into the water as she rested her head on her arm which was on the stone of the fountain.

Her necklace dangled over the fountain has it caught some of the Sun's light.

She smiled when she saw some small starfish at the bottom moving their arms as they sang though she couldn't hear it from hear. She had two gold starfish behind her ears in her hair.

The weather was cold as it was what her father had said the end of autumn. Her mother had made her dress with a full cloak and gloves over her dress except shoes.

She shook her head at the thought of them, she couldn't understand why people need them, as soon as she put them on all she could think about was taking them off she preferred being barefoot and feeling the ground beneath her feet. She wasn't the only one, she had never seen Xiao or Cuifen wear shoes either.

She shivered as a cold wind blew past.

She had heard her mother talk about something called snow she was impatient to see, but she never understood what she said about it.

Her thoughts went to Xiao, she had only been gone for two minutes but she missed the talking.

Back in Atlantica her Grandpa had said to her that if she stayed there, Xiao wouldn't have to be under any of the conditions of the spell since Da knew that it was likely they wouldn't find her voice or any true love, when Xiao found hers, if she wanted her gone she would go without any fights.

Xiao came skipping up to her. "Sis!"

Da looked up to her and smiled.

Xiao looked surprised "What's wrong?"

Da tilted her head in confusion.

Xiao put her hands on her hips "You can't lie to me!"

Da turned to her and shook her head.

Xiao lost all her sternness and pouted "Please?"

Da held the starfish necklace as it began to glow. _'There's nothing…'_

This didn't satisfy Xiao before Xiao knelt down to Da and looked her in the eyes.

"You're worried about the spell right?" asked Xiao in concern

Da looked down.

Xiao crossed her legs "I know what Grandpa said but that means we'll have to start searching"

Da looked at her before holding the starfish as it began to glow brightly _'Where?'_

Xiao put her finger to her chin in thought "Well, anywhere would be a good start"

Da squinted her eyebrows in confusion before Xiao grabbed her hands.

"It's not as if we can't do it we know to stay away from water and it's not as if it falls from the sky now is it?" began Xiao

Da smiled.

"We'll never find it if we stay here, and…even if we don't we'll always have each other" reasoned Xiao

Da's smile grew wider but she was still unsure, it sounded like Xiao was suggesting they runaway.

Xiao grinned "We'll go to the next town and if it's too hard we'll come straight back, it can't be that far away"

Da didn't do anything as Xiao pouted.

"Please…we've never been outside home when we're on land, it'll be good for us" argued Xiao

Da still wasn't sure but she knew her sister would go and she would go with her.

As if Xiao could read her thoughts without the starfish she clasped her hands together successful, "Let's get going then!"

Da's eyes widened before she held Xiao's hand stopping her as she was getting up. Xiao looked down to her. "What's up Sis?"

Da looked up at her before using her other hand and holding her starfish _'We've only just come back, Mamma and Papa they're going to be worried'_

Xiao thought for a moment "What do you mean?"

'_If we have to go, let's go tomorrow or next week it's been a long time since we've been with them' reasoned Da_

Xiao nodded "Okay, we'll go tomorrow morning before Mamma wakes us up"

Da nodded satisfied.

Cuifen came bouncing up to them without her shoes wanting to spend time with her daughters.

"Aren't you two cold out here?" she asked

Xiao nodded as she motioned to her goose bumps "I am can we go inside?"

Da stood up before following the two inside.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 2 finished, I hope it was good enough.

If you want the next chapter **PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!**


	3. Meetings

Early next morning Xiao dragged Da forgetting to take anything with them and only having cloaks on without any foot ware Da really wanted Xiao to think this through, her voice could be anywhere.

Da took deep breaths they had only been walking for no more than ten minutes in which direction she had no idea, she wasn't used to walking at all more than thirty seconds she was ready to give up now she felt like collapsing, she wasn't athletic like her sister who seemed to be running on some kind of adrenalin.

Da stopped before falling back onto the grass, they where in a grassy area with trees scattered around making it hard to see the sky.

The two of them now knew why people wore shoes, because every time they walked on a twig or a broken branch it cut them as Da observed her bleeding foot.

Xiao turned round to her "Sis?"

Da shook her head with deep breaths.

Xiao nodded determined "Okay, you wait here while I go see where the town is"

Da eyes widened in fear as she raised her head abruptly to stop her but it was too late Xiao was already bouncing off.

Da sighed she was too tired to go after her. She knew without Xiao she would get lost not that she wasn't already but now she was alone. She wanted her mother and father, she had only been gone for a few minutes and she was already homesick probably because she hadn't see them in such a long time. She didn't think this was worth it just to find her voice.

She looked around as she caught her breath she stood up and walked slowly in the direction her sister had gone in.

A while later Sun Jian was with his three sons and his daughter in the same forest as the two Qiao's hiding behind a fallen tree.

"Now concentrate Quan" he told his second oldest son seriously

Quan was aiming a bow and arrow trying to get a kill, he sighed frustrated if Ce his eldest brother could do it he would to but it would help if there was something to shoot at.

"At what?" asked Quan annoyed

Ce and his sister Shang Xiang laughed at him.

Quan dropped his bow and arrow to his side to glare at them "Stop it!"

Ce stopped "You're concentrating to hard"

"And how would you know?" asked Quan

Ce shrugged "I've done it like a million times before"

Quan resisted the urge to growl "Is there anything you can't do?"

Ce shrugged "Who knows? Probably not"

"Quan the sooner you do this, the sooner we can all eat" reminded Jian

"I'm hungry" cried their younger brother Kuang

Quan put up the bow and arrow again concentrating as he looked around the area.

Ce and Jian stood either side of him.

"Now just forget everything" tried Ce

"Yeah don't think anything else but your failure" whispered Shang Xiang as she came up behind him amused

The concentration in Quan's face completely went.

Ce smirked and held in his laughter.

"Shang Xiang" said Jian sternly

"Sorry" replied Shang Xiang before walking away and sitting on the grass as she waited next to Kuang

Kuang came up behind Quan "Think of the things you're going to eat, with what you catch, all that nice food savouring it in your mouth"

Quan couldn't help but lick his lips at the thought as Ce looked between them with a smile and the fact that Lang was almost drooling.

There was a slight flicker of movement, as Quan smiled triumphantly "HAH!"

Ce flicked his eyes just in time to see the arrow being released.

The target went to the floor in surprise.

Quan not seeing what or if he had hit it grinned as the others looked at each other in confusion.

"Quan" Ce said urgently "You hit a person!"

Quan's face immediately fell "W-what?"

Ce jumped over the tree and ran for the person. He found them next to a tree where the arrow was.

He sighed in relief before looking down and seeing the girl.

His eyebrows rose slightly as he looked at her _'Damn she's beautiful'_

He bent down a little "Hey are you alright?"

Da however didn't even notice him she was so scared, all she had saw was something come flying past her knocking her to the ground. She was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself but was frozen with fear. Tears were slowly coming down her cheeks as she concentrated on the grass in front of her.

Ce knelt down next to her "Are you hurt?" he asked

She didn't look it but he had to be sure. The others came up behind him.

"Quan you murderer!" cried Shang Xiang

Quan looked at Da with a blank face.

"Hey!" cried Jian to Shang Xiang before turning to Da "Miss are you alright?"

"Sis!" Da heard her sisters voice calling to her

Da's head turned slightly to the sound before managing to scramble up, and running for the first time as if they were murderers.

"Hey!" cried Ce to stop her

Da didn't even hear him before running to the sound of her sister.

"Quan, I actually feel sorry for you" said Shang Xiang as she laughed until she had watery eyes

She grabbed hold of her necklace as it started to glow and she screamed _'Xiao!'_

"Sis!" called Xiao as she stood in a wide open area looking around everywhere.

She made a noise when she felt a pair of arms wrap round her tightly. She turned round as Da buried her face in her stomach crying softly.

"Sis?" asked Xiao alarmed "Don't worry, I promise we won't get separated again, where you lost?"

Da nodded slightly before taking hold of her necklace _'Someone tried to hit me'_

Xiao immediately became stern "What?!"

Da nodded before looking up to Xiao scared.

"Are there a lot of them or just one?" asked Xiao weighing up her chances

Da shook her head not remembering.

Xiao looked at her sisters face "Let's just get out of here, if we see them again, I'll deal with them, I promise"

Da sniffed before standing up straight and shaking her head at Xiao telling it was too dangerous.

Xiao huffed "Well I'm not going to let them hurt you"

Da nodded at her taking hold of her necklace _'I'm not going to let you get hurt either so let's just go'_

Xiao nodded reluctantly before the two instinctively went for each others hands as they stuck to each other like glue.

The Sun family started walking back to the palace after Quan's failure.

Ce patted him on the shoulder "Don't worry about it, it just wasn't your day"

Quan nodded looking at the ground "Right,"

"Was that girl hurt?" asked Kuang

Ce shrugged "I don't know, I guess she was to shaken up to talk"

Jian nodded "Poor girl, she probably go such a scare"

Quan groaned "Don't talk about it please"

They gave him a consoling smile before coming to two separate roads one which led to town and the other to the palace. Stood at the centre was a young man with long dark hair and blue eyes. He stood confidently and looked about the same age as Ce.

"How was it?" he asked his voice smooth and poised

Ce rubbed the back of his neck "Alright"

"It was a disaster" replied Quan truthfully

"Yeah, Quan almost killed some one" replied Shang Xiang as she put a hand on Quan's shoulder

The mans eyes widened slightly "Then I'm sorry for you but you know you could have actually hurt them"

Quan took little comfort in that "I want to go home"

Ce looked at the road to town "I'll be there in a while"

"Right" cried Quan before walking off in the direction of the palace.

"Don't be to late" warned Jian before walking followed by Kuang

"Need any company?" asked Shang Xiang

Ce shrugged "Why not? You coming?"

The man named Zhou Yu nodded before the three of them walked into town.

"Why do you want to come into town anyway?" asked Yu

Ce shrugged "Just didn't want to go home"

"You know I actually feel sorry for Quan, he was unlucky" cried Shang Xiang

Yu nodded "I don't see why all of you make such a big deal about it"

"It's a tradition" replied Ce simply

"Yeah Brother did it when he was eight Quan can't do it at seventeen" mused Shang Xiang

"You were putting him off" defended Ce

Shang Xiang shrugged "He shouldn't have listened to me then"

They came to the gates of town where the guards who upon seeing who it was bowed their respect and opened the gate quickly.

Da and Xiao walked round town and where now in a shop as Xiao looked at all the ribbon they were selling in confusion.

Da held her necklace _'We should find somewhere to stay'_

Xiao nodded "Yeah, better than staying in this place, how can you wear that?"

Xiao looked around "Okay, stay here a minute while I go and ask"

Before Da could object Xiao had walked off leaving Da to sigh silently, she really disliked being on her own.

Shang Xiang, Ce and Yu walked into the shop for Shang Xiang.

Shang Xiang had short brown hair with green eyes and was a tomboy, who didn't like what normal girls liked. She liked to fight and prove she was as good as any man. While Ce had long chestnut hair tied into a ponytail with red ribbon while the rest framed his face with a goatee. He was considered abnormally strong, handsome and cheerful, he always managed to draw people to him. Yu on the other hand was also considered extremely handsome and confident. He was the strategist for Wu.

"There's that girl Quan shot at" cried Shang Xiang

Ce and Yu looked at Da who was keeping her head down with uneasiness.

Shang Xiang was already walking up to her.

"Hey!" cried Shang Xiang behind her

Da didn't do anything she didn't know anyone why would they be talking to her?

Shang Xiang looked at the back of her head "Excuse me" she said getting impatient

Da turned her head slowly when she found Shang Xiang looking at her she turned to face her with a blank face.

"Thank you" Shang Xiang said impatiently

Ce and Yu came up behind.

"This is the one Quan shot at right?" asked Shang Xiang making sure

"Yeah, are you alright?" asked Ce

Da didn't do anything though his voice did sound familiar.

"Excuse me, he asked you a question" cried Shang Xiang

Da didn't know what to do, how do you tell someone you can't talk? And she was pretty sure the girl was glaring at them.

Shang Xiang looked at the girl her dress was alright but she didn't have any shoes.

"Where are your shoes?" asked Shang Xiang looking at her feet

Da looked down slightly they all had shoes on, she shifted from one foot to the other, her feet were covered in dirt from the forest and in cuts.

"Are you going to answer us?" asked Shang Xiang

But she couldn't.

"Shang Xiang, she's been through a lot today, be a little nicer" said Ce quietly

Da was glad when Xiao came running back up to her.

"Sorry Sis but I couldn't find anywhere they kept saying something about money" cried Xiao

Da turned to her looking nervous.

"What's wrong?" asked Xiao

Da looked to them slightly.

"We were apologising and she wouldn't even say a word back to us" cried Shang Xiang offended

Xiao looked at them before looking at Da "Why were they apologising?"

Da looked down and then it hit Xiao. She turned to them with a stern face.

"You're the ones that shot at my sister! Which one of you was it?!!" she accused giving them each a glare

"It wasn't us, it was out brother" replied Shang Xiang

"Yeah, we are sorry about it though he didn't mean to hit you" added Ce

"Now the polite for her to say would be to say she accepts it" cried Shang Xiang looking at Da

Da looked uneasy and shook her head at them.

"But she can't" replied Xiao "Sis can't talk"

"Oh" said Shang Xiang "Okay, well then…."

"I think she's sorry for her behaviour" explained Yu for her

Xiao shrugged "Whatever"

She turned back to Da "I couldn't find anywhere to stay-"

"We can help" interrupted Ce

Xiao turned round to him "Excuse me"

"It's the least we can do, after what Quan did" he told them

Shang Xiang looked at him in confusion.

Ce rubbed the back of his head "Well, we can't just let people sleep on the streets now and Quan can say sorry"

Shang Xiang and Yu didn't know what to say as they waited for their response.

Da had a polite smile on her face waiting for Xiao to say something.

Xiao was having a battle with herself she didn't want to sleep on the streets but she didn't want them trying to hurt Da again.

"Oh well, I um…a…." she mumbled before looking at Da "Okay then, but if he even comes near Sis then!"

She left her sentence unfinished for dramatic pause.

"It's alright, he's harmless really" assured Ce

Xiao looked at them suspicious "You're not all freaks are you?"

An amused came from Ce and Yu.

"Nah, we're not like that" replied Ce

"Can we ask for your names?" asked Yu nicely

"Xiao and Da" replied Xiao

"Do you know who we are?" asked Shang Xiang she knew the answer everyone knew who they were they were the royal family

The two shook their heads surprising all of them.

"Really?" asked Ce surprised "Well then I'm Ce, Sun Ce"

"Sun Shang Xiang" she introduced

"Zhou Yu, it is a pleasure" said Zhou Yu smiling at them

"You're really gonna let us stay with you?" asked Xiao surprised

"Yeah, it's the least we can do after what happened" replied Ce

Xiao burst into a grin "Thanks Mister!"

"Let's go home then, if they're coming with us" cried Shang Xiang

Xiao took Da's hand determined they weren't going to get separated again.

"We're walking is that alright?" asked Shang Xiang

"We walked all the way here" she told her

Shang Xiang nodded taking it as a yes.

They walked out of the shop and started for the road back to the palace.

"Brother, are you sure about this? They're not the only ones who have no money" reasoned Shang Xiang making sure they couldn't hear

"Yeah, I know but they're a special case" Ce replied looking behind him and at them

"Why?" she asked "They don't even have shoes"

"Shouldn't you be charitable?" asked Yu

Shang Xiang shook her head "It's not I don't want to help, it's just a little strange letting people you don't know into your home"

"Scared huh?" teased Ce

Shang Xiang shook her head immediately "No! Oh well forget I said anything"

Ce looked him behind looking at the two Xiao was talking while Da had a smile on her face listening to her though it looked like she was in pain. It was then he noticed it was the gravel on the floor against her feet.

He stopped and waited for them to catch up.

"Do you need any help?" asked Ce

Da looked at him before nodding shyly causing him to smile. He gently picked her up in his arms causing her to let go of Xiao's hand.

When he looked down at her he saw a deep blush on her face and he smiled at her.

Xiao took hold of her necklace for the first time not wanting to say this out loud _'What about me?!'_

Da couldn't say anything back to her before Ce gave a look to Yu to help Xiao which he did.

"May I?" he asked

Xiao nodded with a smile before getting on his back.

They started walking again with Shang Xiang a little ahead of them.

"So do you live round here?" asked Ce

Da nodded.

Ce thought for a moment he wanted to ask her questions but it was hard when all she could do was shook or nod her head.

Yu with Xiao on his back came up and started walking next to them.

"Don't the two of you have any family?" asked Yu

"Yeah, but um…you see we have something to do so we had to leave" replied Xiao

"Oh, well if you like we could at least give you some shoes it wouldn't hurt as much when you walk" cried Yu

Da and Xiao squinted their eyebrows at him.

"It's not like we don't have shoes, we just don't like them" explained Xiao

Yu and Ce looked confused.

"Why not?" asked Ce

"Well, they make our feet feel uncomfortable" replied Xiao

Ce and Yu nodded with amused expressions.

"Where do you live?" asked Xiao

"The palace" replied Yu as if it was common knowledge

Their eyes widened.

Da looked up to Ce and he looked down at her causing her to blush and look back down.

"How come you live at a palace?" asked Xiao

"Haven't you heard of the king? Sun Jian?" asked Yu

Xiao's mouth formed an 'O' shape "Oh, so are you two like brothers?"

"Kind of" replied Ce though this confused Xiao

When they arrived at the palace their eyes widened, it was ten times bigger than the one in Atlantica. It had large gardens all well kept obviously.

"This place is so…big, no wait bigger than big" cried Xiao while Da nodded in agreement

The two smiled at them before the servant in front of the door bowed their respect and opened it for them.

They set them down on the red carpet as they looked around.

Shang Xiang looked up the stairs "I wonder where Quan is"

The girls looked around, the place was beautiful before the stairs stood two statues of tigers, and red was the dominant colour.

"We'll show you your rooms first, if you like" offered Ce

Da turned to him with a smile and nodded.

"We want to be next to each other" cried Xiao

"Alright, this way then" said Ce as he motioned to the stairs

The two exchanged glances they had never been able to walk upstairs.

Ce and Yu walked behind while the two clung on to the sides and looked at each step. As if on que they fell with in a second of each other but were caught by the two men.

"You alright?" asked Ce

Da gave him a small nod before trying to stand but continuingly falling into Ce she had ever felt so embarrassed, she closed her eyes as she felt her face reddening.

Ce didn't mind though he gently picked her up again. "Let me, you're probably still shook up"

Da could do nothing but nod, he was being nice putting up with her.

Meanwhile Yu put Xiao back onto the step. She turned round to him.

"Thanks Mister" she said

Yu smiled at her innocence "Please call me Yu"

Xiao smiled "Alright Mister Yu"

Yu's smile grew before he helped her up the rest of the stairs.

They stopped at two rooms, Yu opened a door for Xiao while Ce did the same for Da with her still in his arms causing Xiao to giggle.

He set her down in her room as she looked around, as she expected it was big bigger than her room at home.

"You like it?" asked Ce

Da looked at him with a wide smile as she nodded quickly and bowed her thanks.

It had a red four poster bed and had a balcony and a door that led to the bathroom.

"You can freshen up if you like, you feet look kind of beat up" he told her

Da looked down at her feet, she couldn't clean them otherwise they'd turn into her tailfin - she hoped she had a big bath.

Yu bought Xiao into her room and she looked around it excited.

"it's real nice, thanks" she cried

"I'm glad you like it" he replied

She looked at him surprised "Who wouldn't?"

Yu smiled, he found he did that a lot around her.

"Do you need some rest?" he asked

Xiao shook her head "No, can I go back to Sis now?"

Yu nodded letting her go ahead.

Xiao bounced into Da's rooms going straight up to her sister.

"Aren't they nice Sis?" she asked excited

Da nodded with a large smile.

"Would you like us to show you two around?" asked Yu

Xiao nodded "Yes please"

They were walking round the gardens, the two Qiao's ahead of them.

Da held her necklace embarrassed _'That was so embarrassing, we shouldn't have left Mamma and Papa, when we can't even walk up stairs, what kind of humans can't walk up stairs?'_

Xiao took her hand excitedly as her head darted around looking at her surroundings. "Babies can't" replied Xiao

Da looked at her with disbelief _'We are not babies'_

Xiao shrugged "They don't seem to mind, if they did I don't think Sun Ce would've carried you"

Da looked down not convinced.

Meanwhile behind them Yu and Ce were talking.

"Why did you let them stay? Not that I'm complaining" asked Yu

"I don't just, just didn't seem right to let them sleep on the streets, besides I don't think they've been out much" replied Ce

Xiao turned round to them "Aren't you going to…you know tour us or something?"

They waited for them before continuing round the castle stopping when they found a sparing match going on.

They walked up to it and started watching.

"Why are they fighting? Shouldn't you stop it?" asked Xiao

Ce looked at them seeing Da with very concerned face.

"They're not actually fighting they're training" he replied

Da tilted her head in confusion.

Ce turned to her "Well, it's how we get better you know, practice"

Da nodded but looked at him inquiringly.

He thought for a moment "Well solders can't follow an incompetent general"

Da nodded, she never did understand war, not when Atlantica was peaceful she couldn't understand what would bring men to fight.

"Can I have a go?" asked Xiao watching with interest from attack to the other

Da looked at her abruptly as several of the people who had heard chuckled.

Xiao blushed crimson "Sorry"

Yu smiled at her.

They watched them there was a man with tattoos all over his chest and bells on his waist with feathers in his hair. The other man had long chestnut hair pulled into a ponytail using flails, he looked much more determined than the other man who had a superior smirk on his face.

They watched them Xiao with an eager interest, Yu saw her fisting through the air while Da looked away uncomfortable until a rather loud growl came from Xiao, she held her stomach as everyone looked at her the two men had even stopped fight.

She looked at everyone her face flaming "S-sorry"

The man with the flails immediately started to attack the man again catching him off guard for a split second before everyone soon turned their interest back to the fight.

Xiao slumped as she pouted "I'm so hungry"

"Would you like to get something to eat?" offered Yu

Xiao nodded without hesitation.

"Let's go then" cried Ce motioning the way

The four set off inside.

.


	4. Start Of The First Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors…(sigh)

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The next morning Da fluttered her eyes open as she sighed contentment against the comfortable bed that had to be twice the size of her.

Last night had gone well though they had laughed at Xiao every time she took a mouthful saying thank you to it and since they had never seen a knife, fork or spoon, they had looked at soup confused before drinking it and eating with their hands which was un heard of for royalty but overall they hadn't been formally introduced to anyone yet apart from Ce, Yu and Shang Xiang. She was nervous about meeting them, they all looked so intimidating, it made her feel somewhat easier knowing that she couldn't speak to them.

She stepped outside her room straightening out any creases in her new dress. They had gave them both dresses after hearing they had nothing else to wear, where they got the dresses from she didn't know, Shang Xiang didn't look like the typical dress wearing type and any dresses she had would probably have been to big for them anyway. Shang Xiang was bigger boned than they were and more normal height while they were petite in size and height.

She still had her small starfish behind her ears as she went into Xiao's room. She looked around not seeing Xiao anywhere but a messy bed.

She looked outside seeing no one. She wriggled her toes against the carpet bringing a smile to her face as she walked down the corridor before coming to the worst invention - stairs.

She had a determined face, no one was around to hurry her so she could take her time. She started taking one step at a time without falling over. It was all going well until she heard someone walking down the stairs and she quickened not wanting to look stupid until slipping, her eyes clenched shut before feeling a warm pair of arms catch her.

She slowly opened them looking up to see Sun Ce smiling cheerfully at her. A deep blush soon spread across her cheeks on her blank face.

"Sorry, here" he said as he helped her up

She gave him a polite smile before looking to the next step nervously not wanting to embarrass herself again.

He waited for her seeing her face, he smiled at it.

"Need any help?" he asked

She nodded shyly and embarrassed.

He smiled before picking her up.

"Your sister woke up early, she went off somewhere" he told her

She nodded slightly.

"Are you hungry?" he asked

She nodded again.

"I'll show you there if you want" he cried but she could do nothing but nod

Xiao skipped through the garden edge too scared to go further out encase she got lost, which she did easily, she used to get lost through all the seating clams.

She skipped up to the large fountain enjoying the feel of the wet grass against her feet, she sighed at how they could wear shoes though right now she was freezing cold. There was a slight cold wind blowing making her shiver, it was never cold in Atlantica she just wasn't used to their weather.

She looked at the fountain seeing a butterfly perched on the top. She tilted her head to the side never seeing one before.

She watched as it fluttered its wings before starting to fly away, Xiao gasped lightly unable to fight the urge of going after it.

"Wait for me!" she called before starting to run after it stumbling slightly against the wetness of the grass and the fact that she wasn't used to running

She managed to follow the butterfly to a tree, she looked up seeing it disappear behind the branches and leaves.

She pouted at it as she put her hands on her hips.

"Mister Flying Thing! Come back!" she called with a natural childish tone in her voice

She huffed slightly trying to jump to the closest branch which was too far away to reach.

She looked around trying to find something to help her reach up the tree as she saw a set of legs. She crept round the tree seeing Zhou Yu with a book in his lap. From his face she could tell he must have been deep into it for he didn't acknowledge anything going on around him and had a looked of deep concentration engraved onto his features.

The thought that he wanted to be alone never occurred to her as she skipped up to him and set herself down next to him.

"Hi!" she greeted cheerfully

It was a few seconds later when he looked up to her cheerfully.

"Hi!" she chirped

He closed his book as he put a polite smile on his face "Forgive me, I didn't notice you there"

She shook her head "No. Whatcha reading?"

Yu looked down at the book before shaking his head "Nothing interesting"

"You looked pretty into it, let me see" she cried as she took the book off of his lap "It has pictures!" she chirped happily

He watched as she squinted her eyes and twisted the book different ways to try and decipher it.

"It is complicated" he cried

She nodded with an embarrassed blush on her face.

The Atlantican language had evolved from hearing humans speak while the written words were nothing like theirs.

She put the book down as she looked at him "What's it for?"

"Strategy" he replied "I'm likely to be chief advisor"

She tilted her head to the side confused "What's that?"

"It's tactics for battle, you see the depiction shows where the solders should be designated while it explains below" he explained

She nodded blankly before holding the book back out to him.

"That's too smart for me" she cried "You have to do that a lot?"

He nodded "It takes up a lot of my time"

She nodded not understanding "What do you do for fun then?"

"I like to hone my skills" he replied

"What? So all you do is work?" she asked incredulously

"I find enjoyment in it" he replied truthfully "I want to be ready when I'm called upon"

She shook her head refusing to accept it "Doesn't mean you can't have any fun!"

He smiled at her "What would you advise me to do then?"

"Umm…" she mumbled as she tapped her chin in thought "Well, I don't think you could do any of the stuff I do where I live, we'll have to find something else, come on"

She hopped up as she thought of what he would find fun.

"I know!" she cried as she clasped her hands together "Why don't you take off your shoes?"

"My shoes?" he asked as a crease appeared on his eyebrows

She nodded eagerly "Yup! I like to feel the ground in between my toes!"

"You find that fun?" he asked with a smile

She nodded "Uh-huh! Don't you like the feel of the ground beneath your feet? Or looking up at the sky especially at night with those bright lights and the moon, it shines real bright at night!"

He smiled at her refreshing child like qualities.

"That's sounds nice…" he cried

She nodded in agreement with a wide cheerful smile.

"I know" she chirped "Take off your shoes!"

"Alright" he agreed as he slipped them off and stood on the grass with her "It's chilly…and wet" he pointed out

Xiao had to nod in agreement "Yeah, I know…but don't you like the feel of it in between your toes"

He smiled at her "You must find enjoyment in a lot of things"

Xiao nodded "Yeah! Mamma says you should never take anything for granted - even the simplest things like walking in sand or wet grass"

Xiao smiled as she looked around looking for something else to occupy them now. She knew that she had a short attention span especially on land but only because it was more exciting up on the land than in Atlantica especially without Da but they were seldom apart so they had little to do together at Atlantica.

"What now?" asked Xiao

"Why don't you tell me about yourself?" he suggested wanting to know more about her

"Hmm…." she started as she tapped her chin with her finger thinking of where to start "Well, I like anything…I love talking and food, I really love food! Especially dimsum and chocolate, I'm always hungry. I like pretty things like flowers and that flying thing that got away" she explained as she pouted at the end before looking at him with a bright smile "What do you do around here? And you can't say reading!"

"Alright," he started as he thought about it "But I do have a lot of responsibilities"

"Okay, okay" she interrupted as she motioned it off "I want to know!"

He had to smile at her, she was endearing to say the least.

"I study-" he started with a light tone

"No!" she interrupted with a childish stern voice "This is why I'm going to help you! You're going to learn to have fun!" she chirped while he look at her starting to get a little anxious

Meanwhile Ce was showing Da around the castle after waiting while she ate. He had showed her what a fork was much to her embarrassment and the fact that she couldn't defend herself when she ate with her fingers though he was perfectly nice to her but she found herself cringing inwardly.

She had to admit he liked to talk but sometimes when he was trying to explain something she didn't understand he would try to explain it without speaking and using his hands which she had found rather funny which made him smile luckily he wasn't embarrassed easily or offended.

She followed him to one of the castle parlours which overlooked another of the castle's gardens.

She watched as he looked around at anything but her with a natural imperturbable nature about him as he tried to think of something to say to her that didn't involve her talking back to him.

"You like it here?" he asked finally

She nodded with a smile.

"Ah…" he started as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "So, you don't like shoes? Huh?"

She shook her head slightly, embarrassed as a light blush covered her cheeks.

He stroked his goatee at the thought "Never met anyone who didn't wear shoes before, I've never thought about not wearing em' though, unless you never wore shoes before, have you?"

She shook her head as she listened to him intently.

A crease appeared on his eyebrows "Right, how'd that happen?"

She did nothing for a moment trying to think of something thinking of nothing to mime to him for why she had never worn shoes when they were a necessity for the humans.

He nodded understanding before he stroked his goatee trying to think of a way to speak to her.

"Right…" he started

Truthfully he thought of this as a challenge, but a good challenge.

He wanted to get to know her from the moment he saw her in the woods but was unsure how to when all she could reply with was a nod or shake of her head.

"Have you always not been able to speak?" he asked after seconds of silence

Da nodded with a polite smile.

"What happened?" he asked interested

She shook her head as she shrugged with a half-hearted face.

"Will you ever be able to again?" he asked

She thought about it for a moment before nodding slightly.

"How?" asked Ce

Da slumped slightly as her face immediately became saddened.

'_I find someone who loves me for me…like that's ever going to happen'_

He watched as her face became distorted with sadness.

He motioned his question off "Never mind, it's not like a voice is everything"

'_That's easy to say when you have one'_

She looked up to him, slightly surprised. Was he trying to cheer her up?

She didn't think so since she had to think about it, she figured he just didn't want an uncomfortable situation with a sad girl.

"What if we get a feather and paper and you can just write things down?" he suggest as he started to get up

Her eyes widened with fear as she immediately grabbed his hand to stop him.

Although the spoken human and Atlantican language was practically the same, Atlantican had evolved from the mer-people listening to humans but the written language had no similarities at all and she could only write basic sentences from what Cuifen had taught them when they were young and even that was rough.

He stopped in mid movement looking at their hands before looking at her feeling a slight tingling feeling at the touch.

"Y-yeah?" he asked as he cleared his throat manly

She shook her head profoundly, not wanting to embarrass herself anymore. She didn't want to know what he thought of her. She hadn't made the best impression. She didn't like shoes, she couldn't say a word and talk to him, she couldn't go up or down stairs. She gave a silent sigh at her predicament.

"Guess not then" he replied as he sat back down

A few seconds later she looked at him, she bit her lip slightly, usually whenever she met people Xiao was with her and talked for the both of them, she thought because she had no voice she was boring but everyone loved Xiao, at parties she always had crowds of people around her laughing along with her but Da couldn't talk to anyone but those who came to compliment her on how she looked and the men who didn't mind having a silent wife as long as she was obedient though once her grandfather had heard them funnily enough she never saw the same man twice. She couldn't help but feel insecure without her voice which made the mission she and Xiao were on seem almost hopeless to her.

She pouted slightly at the thought of Xiao, she missed her now. She looked at Ce seeing him look back with a blank look on his face at her pout which she immediately got rid of.

He looked away as he cleared his throat.

"Uh, it's hot in here, want to go for a walk?" he asked

She nodded slightly before she stood up.

They walked outside as Da looked around at all the new sights before seeing Xiao with Zhou Yu in the distance.

She lightly tapped on Ce's shoulder making her look at him as she pointed in their direction.

He nodded understanding.

"You want to go back to your sister?" he asked as she nodded her reply

As soon as the two caught sight of them Xiao bounced up to Da with excitement written across her face.

"Hi!" she cried

"Where are your shoes?" asked Ce to Yu as he bunched his eyebrows together at the sight

Xiao giggled as she skipped to Yu looking at him as she replied for him.

"Zhou Yu felt the grass in between his toes and he really liked it, right?" she chirped

Yu nodded with an easy smile at the sight of her.

"Yes" he replied

"Right" replied Ce obviously amused making Xiao look at him displeased at the thought he was making fun of Yu

"You're mean for making Yu work so hard!" she cried childishly as she put her hands on her hips

Ce rubbed the back of his neck not knowing what to say to her.

Yu put his hands on her shoulders making her look back at him with her original smile.

"No ones makes me do things I don't want to" he assured

Xiao nodded understanding "I believe you, I'm sorry" she said to Yu rather than Ce not that Ce minded as Da looked at him with a worried stare relieved to find a good natured smile on it.

"Brother!" shouted Shang Xiang as she walked up to them "Father set up a room so he and everyone can meet them"

Ce nodded "Right, you stay with them"

Shang Xiang nodded a smile appearing on her face at the idea "Okay, it's nice after having only greasy men to talk to, but you should put some shoes on, just while you're meeting them, they're a mixed bunch"

Xiao sighed "Fine, fine"

Da had a smile on her face at the idea, hopefully they'd all be nice.

"I'll show you to your rooms so you can get some" offered Shang Xiang as she turned

Da smiled politely at Ce as she nodded her thanks before following the two inside.

Ce stepped up to Yu as he watched them go.

"You might want to clean that up" he cried as he motioned lazily to Yu's muddy feat not taking his eyes away from her walking figure

Yu looked down at his feat and nodded "I know… but she's something else…"

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	5. End Of The First Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors…(sigh)

Found Out Of Water

Chapter 5

Da sat with a serene smile on her face as Xiao talked animatedly to the two of them.

They were sat in an outside parlour waiting for the generals to introduce them. The only one Da was somewhat nervous meeting was the lord, it was important for him to like them or they could be kicked out. From what she had heard about him, he sounded so intimidating. He was obviously a great man and had accomplished many feats as had Sun Ce, but that didn't surprise her much from the way he looked nothing about him seemed normal but he exuberated cheerfulness and was nice to her when she wanted to die of embarrassment.

She wasn't particularly nervous about meeting anyone else, not when she couldn't say anything to them and Xiao could speak for both of them, she always did much to Da's relief.

Shang Xiang listened to Xiao with a friendly smile on her face, she found she liked them, they were the only girls around the palace her own age let alone find that she could be friends with them.

As Xiao was talking the door opened revealing Lord Sun Jian with Ce, Kuang and an extremely nervous Quan behind him.

Xiao's eyes immediately narrowed on his, remembering anyone who tried to hurt her sister.

Xiao and Shang Xiang hopped up with Xiao having a scowl on her face and Shang Xiang with a smile as she looked at her father.

"Aren't you at least going to apologize!?" she demanded harshly but was also wondering where Yu was

Quan lowered his head in shame "I…apologize…"

"Too bad! That sounded so fake!" retorted Xiao

Quan looked at his family for help but his brothers simply shook their heads with a smirk while his father watched an amused smile.

In the end Shang Xiang sighed "He is sorry, he's just a lousy shot"

Xiao looked at Shang Xiang as she pushed her lips to one side debating whether to believe her until she felt Da put her hand on hers. Xiao looked at her seeing her bright smile and relented as she sighed.

"Fine, whatever…" she muttered as she sat back down and Quan sighed in relief

There was a slight tension for a second before Jian made a good natured laugh.

"So, that's the one you hit" he cried before laughing again

Da slightly looked away a little embarrassed as Ce cleared his throat lightly.

"No, that's Xiao, this is Da" he introduced looking and feeling slightly apprehensive though he had no idea why he should have been affected by them meeting at all

Sun Jian looked at the now uneasy feeling girl looking a her hands as she fidgeted with them. He laughed good-naturedly looking at the two.

"Stand up Girl, I'm not a monster, you know!" he cried with a grin

The two stood up slowly as Da continued to look down.

"This is my father, Lord Sun Jian, Quan and Kuang and you know Brother" introduced Shang Xiang

The two bowed to him in respect as he forced Da's chin up surprising both of them.

"Excuse me?" cried Xiao with a high pitched voice as she removed his hand off of Da's chin

Jian immediately laughed "Pretty girls aren't they?"

Xiao couldn't help but giggle as everyone looked at her.

"You're funny, Old Man" she cried as she giggled

He grinned at her good-naturedly as he patted her on the head before looking to Shang Xiang.

"Shang will look after you for the rest of the day, I'm sure" he cried

Shang Xiang nodded with a smile at her father.

"I won't disappoint Father" she replied dutifully making him continue his grin

Xiao pouted as she looked around "Where's Zhou Yu?"

"He's working with Xun and Meng" replied Kuang

A crease appeared on Xiao's brow as she put her hands on her hips unimpressed.

"You work him to hard!" she cried childishly

"He doesn't mind" cried Quan

"You don't talk murderer!" cried Xiao silencing Quan immediately

Da resisted the urge to cringe at her sister's behaviour, they could throw them out and banish them from their kingdom if they really wanted to.

Da tugged on Xiao's hand subtly making her look at her as Da shook her head slightly.

Xiao sighed as she sat back down.

"You're right, I'm sorry for snapping at you Mister" cried Xiao childishly

Quan shook his head "I deserve it"

"That's right" Xiao said quietly so only Da could hear as she sat back down and nudged her slightly.

"Have fun!" cried Kuang as the three made their to the door

"Bye-bye!" cried Xiao chirpily as she waved

As soon as they left Xiao immediately returned to talking about anything that came to mind again as Da held her necklace making it emit a slight glow.

'_Isn't there a Lady of Wu?' _she asked her sister

Xiao stopped talking and thought about it,

"Isn't the big man got a wife?" she asked

"Wife? Oh, Mother's on holiday with Su and Yin. She said she needed a holiday, she'll be back soon though" cried Shang Xiang as the two nodded understanding

Da sat quietly as the two chatted with each other until loud arguing came from outside. Da tilted her head to the side as the voices became more clearer.

She got up and walked over to the open window seeing the two sparring men from yesterday, she turned back to the two seeing Shang Xiang now frozen slightly losing her composure.

The door flung open revealing the tattooed man followed by the other man pushing him into the room.

The two glared at each other as Shang Xiang now having regained her composure stood up with her hands on her hips.

"You two! Cut it out!" she cried "What kind of impression do you two want to make!?"

The tattooed man scoffed while the other bowed his apologies.

Shang Xiang shook her head at the two of them.

"I'm Ling Tong" cried the brown haired man diligently

The two looked at the tattooed man who was too busy sending back a glare at Tong to answer them, Shang Xiang sighed at them.

"That's Gan Ning" she said quietly

The two nodded slightly for the sake of it.

Shang Xiang walked up to the two who were about to start a physical fight before she pushed them out the room.

"We're busy!" she cried abruptly

The two protested against her until she slammed the door on them.

She turned round to see Xiao and Da's blank faces.

"What?" she asked not understanding

Da pointed to her cheeks as Xiao giggled.

"You look a like you're blushing" she cried

Shang Xiang immediately rubbed her cheeks as she went back to sit down.

"It's hot in here" she excused

"But it's so cold!" cried Xiao as she shivered

A little while later Yu came by with Lu Meng and Lu Xun and lastly a huge but friendly man named Huang Gai who was with a quiet man named Taishi Ci.

Da found she liked everyone here, there wasn't anyone who was unpleasant - maybe Tong and Ning, though Shang Xiang explained to them that the two of them were always that way, too competitive for their own good.

Shang Xiang stretched tiredly afterwards. "That was long!"

"They were all so fun!" cried Xiao nicely as the three stepped outside

The sun was setting on their first day and now Da was starting to feel hungry.

Da looked around the outside before seeing Sun Ce sitting under a tree with his eyes closed lazily as Zhou Yu stood in front of him with his arms crossed, she noticed how he opened his mouth albeit slightly lazy whenever he talked back.

A small smile flickered onto her face at the sight of the two of them, they looked in stark contrast to each other, Yu looked serious and always stood erect while Ce looked informal and since she had met him, which wasn't long, he had a easy going look on his face.

"Sis!" cried Xiao as she waved her hand in front of her face

Da looked at her hand surprised before looking at her expectantly.

"What were you staring at?" asked Xiao before she turned around and looked "Oh, let's go say hi…"

Xiao grabbed Da's hand as she started on a slight skip to the two.

"Huh?" mumbled Shang Xiang before following the two

"What are you doing?" asked Xiao more to Yu than Ce as she ran up to them

He faced her with a smile as he opened his mouth to speak.

Xiao's eyes narrowed on the two as the other two caught up.

"Are you still working?" she asked suspiciously

He gave her a soft smile making her face drop blankly as a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Nah, dinner's ready" answered Ce for him as he stood up and gave a tired stretch

Xiao looked around for something as Da looked at her wondering if she was missing something.

"How do you know?" she asked

"The kitchen lets Brother eat whenever he wants to, he eats a lot" explained Shang Xiang with a smirk

Ce scoffed as he walked past her ruffling up her hair.

She fixed an unimpressed stare at him as she straightened out her hair as he stopped at Da.

She looked up to him with a polite face and a small smile as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Eat with us, if you're uncomfortable…uh, if you want to-" he cried

Da nodded trying to make it look not as eager as it felt.

She followed him inside making sure to sit next to Xiao, truthfully she didn't want the two of them being looked at by everyone in their kingdom as they ate until they could learn how to use a knife and fork.

As they sat down, there was little formality between them as everyone began eating.

Da looked at everyone use their cutlery biting her lip slightly before looking at Xiao who had given up on a knife and was just using a fork to eat her food.

She looked around apprehensively before trying to copy them with a lame attempt that was close to how a child would use a knife and fork.

After diner Shang Xiang showed them back to their rooms where a maid had drew them both baths.

Xiao took one look at it before scampering into her sister's room.

"Sis!" she called as she entered

She looked around the room as Da came out the bathroom.

"Did you get a bath too?" she asked

Da nodded as she held her necklace. _'I thought if one of us had one then the other would act as a lookout'_

Xiao nodded in agreement.

'_I'll go on lookout' _decided Da as Xiao nodded

A few minutes later Da sat next to the bath as Xiao's sapphire blue tailfin hung over the edge of the bath.

"Today's been fun, though I'm a little tired" cried Xiao as Da nodded in agreement

Da held her necklace as it emitted a deep glow.

'_Do you think Mamma and Papa are alright?' _she asked worried

Xiao blew at the bubble bath in her hands as she nodded cheerless.

"Mamma will be and Papa will be trying to cheer her up though he'll be really worried" she cried

'_The note we left didn't say much and I really want to see them…do you think we should go back?' _asked Da concerned

Xiao looked at her abruptly "No! We can't! We have to find your voice!"

Da nodded as she looked down _'But-'_

"No buts!" interrupted Xiao "We have to!"

'_But if you ever…' _Da started sadly though she didn't want to

"If I ever what?" asked Xiao suspiciously

'_If you ever…found someone who loved you and you loved him…I…I'd go you know' _explained Da sincerely

"I won't! I'd never leave you, you're the most important person to me…and if I had to choose between you and anyone else then I'd choose you! We're a two for one deal, remember?" cried Xiao

Da couldn't help but smile at her as Xiao absent minded blew out the bubble bath, her sister was a very special person to her too.

Da looked down at her necklace, her grandfather had said that the necklace, her voice and her true love would work together, so when the starfish on her necklace glowed brightly the closer her voice was and the more love their was, but Da didn't really understand about the love part. She didn't know if it meant the more love Da felt or the more love they felt for each other but she thought she'd figure it out eventually though right now it had better than faint glow.

The necklace was also an emblem for Atlantica, anyone who had one was a member of the royal family, her mother always had hers round her neck…

Later that night Da lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the bed was too big for one person.

She sighed as the door quickly opened making her look up sharply. It was too dark for her to see anything.

The small figure went under the covers and scurried to Da as she watched apprehensively before Xiao popped out next to her making her sigh in relief.

"I couldn't sleep" she whispered as she lay her head on Da's shoulder

Da nodded slightly as she lay back down.

The two soon drifted into an easy sleep filled with anxious dreams…

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please review!

Not a lot is happening yet, but that will change in the next chapter (I hope…)


	6. An Eventful Day Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors… (Sigh…)

Found Out Of Water

Chapter 6:

Da sat in the gardens with Xiao and Shang Xiang as the two talked to each other about anything that came to mind.

They had been at the Wu Palace for a few weeks and everyone had made them welcome admittedly in their own special ways, Da thought all the generals here were unique and most of them liked to talk. There were some of them, she found hardly spoke at all like Taishi Ci though he seemed to be comfortable with Ce and a man called Zhou Tai who was almost always with Sun Quan.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu did look after them somewhat more than everyone else and made sure they were alright while Shang Xiang was there to talk to for Xiao and the three of them were becoming fast friends.

It was mid morning and Da noticed that since she had woken up servants and staff had been running and fussing about the place.

She looked around the garden seeing Zhou Yu and Sun Ce sparring under the shade…shirtless, it was quite strange actually since it was winter it was naturally cold and they were in the shade, not that them being shirtless was bad…just that they must have been working hard to not as cold as she was

"Sis!" cried Xiao as she waved her hand in front of her face

Da blinked as her face went blank before she looked at Xiao.

"What were you staring at?" she asked as she looked around before spotting the two "Oh….are they good?"

Shang Xiang nodded "Yeah, no one's beaten Brother, him and Taishi Ci draw all the time and Yu's Wu's strategist so he has to make sure battles go our rather than fighting himself"

The two nodded understanding.

They watched the two spar seeing Ce land a hard hit to Yu's chest making him stumble and land backwards. Xiao sat up as she put her hands on her hips definitely not happy. "That's mean!"

"Yu's used to it by now" cried Shang Xiang

"That's even meaner!" argued Xiao

The two looked at her confused as Ce helped Yu up.

"He should help him up!" cried Xiao not impressed by how the two were acting and when they were supposed to be as good as brothers

"It was just a fight…" said Shang Xiang confused

Xiao sat back down as Da watched the two put their shirts back on, without a doubt Yu looked the most tired as he flexed his muscles but from what she had seen he was impressive but then again how would she know? It all looked the same to her…

A bunch of what Da thought were well-dressed servants scurried up to Sun Ce holding pieces of cloth with different designs on them. They had been doing that a lot lately but mostly to Lord Sun Jian but she hadn't seen him today…

She looked down at her necklace, it was glowing more strongly now, more so than it had ever been. She looked at it in wonderment not noticing as the two approached them.

"If you two are friends then why are you fighting each other?…even if it is only pretend" asked Xiao with a childish innocence

The three looked slightly confused by her question before Ce shrugged it off as he hit Yu roughly on the shoulder.

"He needs the practice" he joked though Xiao still didn't seem to understand why he hurt Yu

"What do you two plan on doing all day?" asked Shang Xiang for the sake of it

"Getting out of here for starters, why are they asking me for all the design…stuff…?" he trailed off

"Because Father didn't want them hassling him anymore so he went for a horse ride early this morning to the mountains with Gai" explained Shang Xiang "I did say you wouldn't be able to handle it but the two of them just laughed it off before they rode off"

Ce said nothing for the moment before hitting Yu lightly on his elbow.

"Wanna go riding?" he suggested

"Leaving it to Quan?" replied Yu unsurely

Ce shrugged "He's got Meng and Tai not to mention Xun, they'll be fine on their own…for a while at least…"

"Aren't you going to invite us?" came in Shang Xiang wanting to go herself, her father was still protective of her in his own way and that included going out of the palace by herself

"If you want" replied Ce coolly

"Do you two know how to ride?" asked Yu with his usual gentle voice as he looked at the two

Da looked at Xiao waiting for her to answer for the two of them; instead she looked deeply confused at something.

It wasn't that in their whole time they hadn't seen a horse, Xiao just couldn't put the word to the picture.

"What's a horse?" she asked absent minded

There was silence for a moment as they simply looked at her blankly before Shang Xiang broke the silence by laughing.

"Do you have a fever?" asked Shang Xiang as she placed a hand on her forehead

Xiao looked at Da confused who nodded slightly, for the sake of it.

"Yeah…" she said slowly

"Are you well enough to go out?" asked Yu as he kneeled by her concerned and Shang Xiang took her hand back

Xiao looked at him blankly as she nodded before chirping up again. "I'm fine! Let's go!"

"Not when you smell like that!" cried Shang Xiang as she turned her head away from Yu's sweat

"After I have taken a bath then" cried Yu as he stood up "I must take my leave then"

"Don't take too long!" chirped Xiao as he smiled at her

They stared at each other for a few moments before Yu looked away slightly hearing Ce stifle a laugh.

"…excuse me" he said quietly before leaving

"Don't worry Brother, everyone's used to you smelling like an ape!" cried Shang Xiang

"Ha, funny" he replied sarcastically "It doesn't matter that much"

Though when he stayed to the spot, Da really thought he wasn't going to have a bath after such a workout. She raised her head with bunched eyebrows as she looked at them slightly shocked.

Ce rubbed the back of his head sheepishly getting the idea of that look.

"I'll meet you by the stables" he said quickly before sprinting away to his chambers

Shang Xiang shook her head slightly before looking at the two.

"Do you two want to go and put on shoes?" she asked

"Do we have to?" asked Xiao as she pulled out the grass around her

Da looked at her as Shang Xiang bunched her eyebrows together.

"Uh…yes…?" she replied

Xiao sighed in reluctance as she took Da's hand and stood up.

"Okay…" she replied childishly as the two started to walk back to their rooms

Shang Xiang watched for a second as she shook her head slightly, however much she liked them the word she would use to describe them is "Strange…"

Da held her necklace as they walked out of the gardens.

'_Why has Lord Sun Jian gone away?' she asked_

Xiao shrugged "I don't know, I'll ask Shang Xiang"

A few minutes later they were in their Xiao's room putting on shoes.

"I hate them!" cried Xiao as she pulled them on

Da sympathised with her as she played with her necklace, they just simply weren't used to it.

"_Can I stay here?" she asked with a careful_

Xiao raised her and looked at her "Why?"

Da looked down solemnly _"Because, I don't exactly contribute anything-" _

Xiao shook her head stopping her, "Nope! I'm not having that! You're coming! You still have me to talk to! And talking isn't the only way of communicating…"

Da looked at her incredulously considering how much she knew Xiao loved to talk.

Xiao waved her off "Alright, I know! I'll think of one, I'm sure I will! Now come on let's go find Shang Xiang"

She took Da's hand as Shang Xiang popped into the doorway.

"You ready?" she asked

The two nodded as Xiao helped Da up off of the floor.

Da straightened out the creases in her dress as Xiao looked to Shang Xiang.

"Where's Lord Sun Jian gone?" she asked for Da

"He took a break with Gai from all the banquet planning and they went horse riding" explained Shang Xiang

"Banquet?" asked Xiao excited at the prospect

She nodded "Yep, Mother's coming back today, and the banquets tomorrow night in celebration of her return"

"Oh, that's nice of him, isn't it?" cried Xiao

Shang Xiang nodded slightly "I suppose so; Father always does it…what were you saying anyway?"

"We were just talking" replied Xiao lightly

A crease appeared on Shang Xiang's eyebrows "If you don't mind me asking, how?"

"Well…" started Xiao as Da looked at concerned she would tell Shang Xiang after only knowing her a few weeks "Ah…we're just so close, you know?"

Shang Xiang nodded understanding "Yeah, sometimes I think Brother and Zhou Yu share a mind but they are just as good as brothers so I guess it makes sense"

Xiao nodded in agreement "So, can we go?"

"Yu might take awhile, he likes to look his best, and he's more popular with the female courtiers that way" she said joking at the last part

Xiao nodded taking it seriously "Oh…thinking about it now…he must be very popular…those ladies must be very independent…and intelligent and really proper like, I guess those two have a lot of admirers"

Shang Xiang looked at the two of them confused seeing their suddenly saddened faces.

"Yeah, but, they don't pay attention to any of them, those two aren't really the sort to like THAT type" she cried

"What type do they like?" asked Xiao curious and Da had to admit so was she

"Well…" tried Shang Xiang though this wasn't an area she knew anything about "I guess going on what they are like…that…well…-"

"We're waiting" interrupted Xiao as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently

Shang Xiang scratched her head thinking "Yu would…she'd have to be…" she started before finally thinking of something to say "Yeah, that's it, she'd have to balance him out, I guess that's for both of them really…and they'd have to be interesting, and not to into themselves. I don't think they'd like them too independent, they'd have to need them, that's a definite for Brother, he'd want someone that he could be protective of that would inflate his ego just so he could feel manly…I guess that doesn't really make sense, huh?"

Xiao shook her head "No, but Mamma and Papa are like that, they're polar opposites but they couldn't live without each other. It's so romantic… Papa's really intelligent and he always reads Mamma a story every night…I'd love to have something like that…"

Da nodded in agreement with a contented smile but couldn't help but missing her mother and father even more now at their mention.

"I feel a little homesick…" cried Xiao as she plopped herself down on the floor as Da nodded in agreement

"What happened to make you leave?" asked Shang Xiang concerned

"…We just had to…its real complicated…we can't tell anyone" replied Xiao

Shang Xiang nodded for the sake of it… "That's alright, we should go wait for them by the stables"

The two nodded in agreement before following Shang Xiang down to the stables.

As they entered the stables Da felt a little scared of the size of the creatures standing there as Shang Xiang immediately went up to her own horse.

It was a chestnut coloured horse that suited Shang Xiang's size.

Da looked around for a small horse which she knew neither her nor Xiao would be able to ride, she found white horse right at the end, she sighed at its beauty as she dared to reach out and pat it.

It gave a slight nay scaring her slightly before she managed a soft stroke before immediately withdrawing her hand.

"I want this one!" she heard Xiao say

She looked over seeing Shang Xiang holding the reins of her horse as it waited by her obediently.

It was a dark brown horse around the same size as Da's.

"She's so pretty!" cried Xiao

"She'll be easy to ride too" added Shang Xiang before looking over to Da "Is that the one you've picked?"

Da nodded as she looked back to the horse.

"What do you do with it then?" asked Xiao

"I'll show you the basics while they're not here" cried Shang Xiang as she started to show them how to get onto a horse

A little while later Ce and Yu came to stables seeing Xiao and Da on their horses already.

Shang Xiang saw the looks of hidden disappointment on their faces as they had discussed on their way down there how the two should ride with them because they didn't know how to, at least they thought they wouldn't know how to.

"Aren't you two going to get your horses? I want to go!" cried Shang Xiang impatiently as her horse seemingly nayed in agreement

The two of them got out their horses, Yu's was a white colour the exact same tone as Da's but his horse was bigger and looked a lot more stronger, while Ce was a jet black and was of a massive size not that Da and Xiao noticed them, they were too busy with their own horses.

"Go slow okay?" cried Xiao more for Da's sake than her own

"I'll stay with you" promised Yu as Xiao nodded with a smile

"We're not going to separate anyway" cried Shang Xiang as if it was a matter of fact

Ce kept an eye on Da as she struggled to guide the horse out of the stables.

They started on a slow ride out of the palace luckily without anyone seeing for they wouldn't have been allowed much further than the gate.

Eventually they stopped outside a forest on the field that was lightly covered in frost beside it and left the horses by a tree of the forest.

They settled down a few yards away,

"It's really nice here" commented Xiao as she looked around

"Yeah, everyone often comes here in the summer to spar" informed Shang Xiang

Xiao's face fell "Again with the fighting, I don't see why when there are plenty of other things to do, nicer things you can do with your friends"

"They just have a rivalry, everybody does, but they never let me fight" explained Shang Xiang

Ce shook his head "Because you can't take it every time you lose, Quan's told everyone not go near when you're like that"

"That's because Quan's nothing but a big cheater" she argued

"You shouldn't be like that with your own brother...we're not like that..." cried Xiao

"Quan just thinks he's better because he's older, who's the older one out of you two?" asked Shang Xiang

"Sis by six months" chirped Xiao

Da knew she required an explanation as she knew it wouldn't be possible to have actual human siblings that were six months apart.

Shang Xiang nodded in realisation "Aren't you two blood related?"

"No, we are..." cried Xiao not understanding

"Oh..." cried Shang Xiang simply "I don't get it..."

Xiao shrugged "I don't know, when Mamma laid her-"

Da's eyes immediately widened as she put a hand over Xiao's mouth to stop her from finishing the sentence.

Xiao looked at her deeply confused as Da could do nothing but shake her head, which as always would be enough for Xiao to stop until she could ask Da about it later.

There was silence for a few seconds as no one knew what to say, Xiao looked seemingly unaffected by the sudden change in the atmosphere as she looked around always finding something new to catch her interest, while Da looked as if she wanted to say something to drag everyone's attentions away from their probably growing suspicions which prompted Ce to say...

"Anyway...how long do you want to stay here for?" he asked changing the subject

Xiao however wasn't listening as butterfly came overhead, she gasped at the sight.

"Mister Flying Thing!" she cried happily before scampering up after it

Da watched her making sure she was okay.

"How is that possible?" asked Shang Xiang confused but wanting to know

"How are we supposed to know?" replied Ce

Da looked between them nervously.

"She has such a refreshing attitude" commented Yu as he watched her trying to reach for the butterfly

Da shifted uncomfortably at the look on his face, it gave her the impression he felt _something_ for her sister, which wasn't a bad thing but just that the first thing she felt was that she could lose Xiao, but she knew a split second later she was just over reacting.

A few minutes later Xiao returned back to group after failing to catch the butterfly.

"It got away again..." she said sadly, she looked at Da sheepishly "Sis, can you help me find my shoes please?"

Da smiled as she nodded before Xiao helped her up and the two went off into the grass.

"We should probably get back before Mother does" noted Shang Xiang as she leaned on her hands feeling the cold in between her fingers

"I have some studying to catch up on" cried Yu

"No, you don't!" came Xiao's voice "You have to learn to have fun!"

They looked at her as she smiled and waved before getting back to finding her shoes leaving a smile on Yu's face as he was becoming accustomed to.

Ce looked at Da as she searched for Xiao's shoes seeing her hold her arms as she shivered lightly.

Ce got up as the two looked at him.

"Where are you going?" asked Shang Xiang

"Going to find some shoes" he replied simply

He quickly found on a little way by Da, he held it over her shoulder making her smile.

She took it off of him and turned round to smile her thanks before she skipped over to Xiao.

"Got it!" chirped Xiao as she picked up the other

"_Xiao, here!" she cried happily as she held her necklace_

Xiao turned and smiled "Thanks Sis!"

"Do you two want to go back?" Ce asked

Da looked at Xiao who was tapping her chin with her finger as she thought about it, she didn't want Yu to studying anymore than usual but it was quite cold.

"Hmm, can't we just go somewhere warmer?" she asked

Ce nodded "Yeah, I'll go tell the others"

"Come on, let's go get out horses!" chirped Xiao

The two scampered up to the five horses which were all tied together in one long row.

The first one was the same white colour as Da's.

She tilted her head to the side as she looked at it before holding her necklace.

"_Was it this big before?" she asked_

Xiao shrugged "I don't know, maybe they grow really fast"

Da nodded not knowing any better before she looked at her sister "_Help me up?" _

Xiao nodded as between the two of them managed to get her on the bigger horse.

Da looked down confused _"Are you sure!?"_

As soon as she finished the sentence, she didn't know what she had done or that the horse suddenly gained a mind of its own when it sprang into a gallop.

Da gave a silent scream as the horse galloped and she clung onto the reins desperately.

"Sis!!!" cried Xiao concerned

"What happened?!" cried Shang Xiang as the other three quickly approached

"It just took off! What do we do?!" asked Xiao with the utmost worry

Ce immediately got on his horse and started chasing after her with his own horse.

"Oh..." Xiao squirmed fearfully before trying to get onto the nearest horse which happened to be Shang Xiang's but was too big to get on and she was too worried and scared for her sister that she completely missed her step and fell backwards as tears fell down her cheeks

Yu kneeled down beside her as he put an arm around her consolingly.

"He'll get her back safely" he assured

Xiao shook her head panicked "But I don't trust him with my sis!"

* * *

The next part of this chapter will be up in a couple of weeks but I didn't want to make it too long, so...please, please, please REVIEW!

**I won't put up the next chapter unless I get at least ONE REVIEW! PLEASE!**


	7. An Eventful Day Part 2

I do not own Dynasty Warriors... (Sigh...)

Found Out Of Water

Chapter 7: The Eventful Day Part 2...

Da clenched her eyes shut as she clung to the horse's mane as she gave out silent shrieks and took panicked breaths.

She managed to gain a tiny amount of her composure to open one of her eyes slightly; her eyes shot open seeing a low thick branch almost directly in front of her.

The moment she came in contact with the hard tree she was airborne and landed with a crash sending her unconscious as the gleaming wild white horse carried on galloping none the wise.

As soon as he was there Ce jumped off of his horse and was in an instant by her.

"Da!" he cried concerned as he kneeled down close to her

He placed one hand on the top of her head and the other on her cheek as he quickly looked for any signs of her wakening. He got out a small dagger from his belt and put it under her nose checking to see if she was still breathing.

He did not notice Da fluttering her eyes open feeling the pain of the fall before noticing him.

She immediately went a scarlet red and did not notice the sudden brightness of her necklace.

He was relieved seeing her breath on his dagger before looking back to her.

The two were sent into some kind of a trance looking into each other's eyes. With the blush on her face and the feeling that came from her eyes, he thought she had never looked more beautiful.

He leaned down to her slightly making her gulp.

He was so close when...

"Hello there!" cried a female voice

The two were snapped out of their reverie as they looked at each other for a second before looking to the woman who was holding the reins of Zhou Yu's horse.

She was an aging woman with thinning dark brown hair and deep green eyes; she looked as if she worked every day and was a slightly big boned woman.

"My, what a necklace you have there" cried the woman noticing the brightness of it

The two looked at it...

Ce couldn't help but ask. "Did it always do that?"

Da looked up to him as the woman approached them with the horse.

"Why don't you come back to my cottage? It's close by and you might've been injured by your fall" suggested the woman

Da looked at Ce as he nodded to the woman. "Thanks..."

He helped her up, keeping her close to him.

"Here, let me guide your horse, you probably want to make sure she's okay yourself first" she said with a smile that just increased Da's blush as she took the reins of the horse

Ce cleared his throat lightly as he turned to her putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Are you hurting anywhere?" he asked, his voice full of concern and seriousness

Da shook her head but it did not satisfy him.

"Are you sure?" he asked

She couldn't help but smile a little at his concern as she nodded and he let it suffice for the moment.

He kept his arms round her keeping her close being especially protective in front of anyone they didn't know.

The old woman's cottage was situated on a sandy area with a lake next to it that eventually led back to the ocean.

Da stood obediently by Ce as he knocked on the door with the horses tied up outside. When she didn't come, he opened the door peering in before going in taking Da's hand as he did so.

"Hello!" he called

"In here!" she replied as they entered the kitchen

Da saw her putting what looked like another copy of her necklace in a small container before locking it up as Da watched confused.

She turned to them with a friendly smile before looking at Da slightly concerned.

"Dear, you look a little flustered, why don't you sit down?" she suggested

Da had to ask herself, was she blushing because he was holding her hand? She shook her head slightly to herself, of course she was!

They sat down as she made them some green tea.

"Take as long as you need, you don't want any accidents on your back" she told them with friendly voice

Da smiled gratefully at her before taking a sip of her tea. "I'm sure your mother and father will be worried"

Ce bunched his eyes together "We're not related"

The woman couldn't help but give a light laugh "No, I think that's quite obvious"

Ce cleared his throat lightly as Da tilted her head to the side not knowing what she meant.

The woman smiled good naturedly at them "My son can take back one of your horse's tomorrow-"

"Son?" asked Ce

She nodded "Yes, he's away now but he'll be back later today, we had a young girl staying with us, around the age of you miss-"

"Da" corrected Ce

She smiled at him "Qiang, I suppose there's no reason to ask yours, prince of Wu"

Ce said nothing not wanting to discuss it with someone who could take advantage of them. "You were saying"

"Oh, it's nothing really, Himiko can be such an unruly child at times but I know she means well, she does take after her mother, Ji was always like that..." she mused before looking at them "My apologies, it's not your concern, Chao will bring your horse tomorrow"

"I can take em both" replied Ce

"Can you look after both of them and Da? I would rather you not take the risk" cried Qiang

Da looked at Ce wanting to tell him he didn't have to worry about her but she sighed gaining their attention.

"Dear?" inquired Qiang

She instantly looked at them with a genuine smile as she shook her head.

Qiang nodded understanding "I see" she said with a soft tone as she put their empty cups on a tray and placed it on the counter.

"My son's like that" she finished "He hasn't got voice, not yet anyway"

Da looked at her; maybe it was just a coincidence that Qiang had a necklace just like hers and that her son didn't have a voice...but either way it wasn't any of her business.

"We should probably get going" cried Ce as he stood up taking Da with him

Qiang nodded understanding "I'm sure everyone will be very worried about you both..."

"Yeah..." agreed Ce for the sake of it, he honestly thought that the only one to be worried was Xiao, he could imagine her freaking out the second the horse sped off but he seriously doubted anyone would be worried about him, they knew he could handle himself

"Thanks" cried Ce ready to leave before Da tapped him on his arm lightly making him remember to tell her where to bring the horse "We live at the-"

"The palace, I know" she cut in "I should know where the prince of Wu lives after all"

"Right." Agreed Ce before they made their way outside

Da bowed her thanks to Qiang before Ce helped her onto the horse.

Ce nodded to her before the two set off.

Da looked up to him apprehensively, she wanted to say sorry to him and that she would try and do better in future but she couldn't communicate anything without Xiao.

"It's alright" he told her making her look up to him with bunched eyebrows, he shrugged slightly "You just had a guilty face and all, I just assumed...so you don't have to worry about anyone being mad at you, they'll all just be glad to know you're safe...and besides, I like making sure you're okay"

She couldn't help but smile at him making him clear his throat lightly, what he had to her made her stomach twist in knots and she wasn't able to take the smile off of her face.

Ce started his horse off on a quick trot back to the castle. She shook slightly as the horse gave a light bounce.

The horse took them back to the stables. Ce stopped the horse as he looked down to Da where she had eventually nestled herself against his chest as she struggled to keep her eyes open. To her he was very comfortable but she hadn't thought he would be, he wasn't rough or serious with her, he was sort of soft – for him anyway and careful with her.

He watched her struggle to flutter her eyes open before giving a graceful yawn as she tried to cover most of it with her hand. He subconsciously decided it was the most endearing sight he had ever seen that he couldn't look away.

She looked up to him and it took him a couple of seconds to realise she was waiting for him to do something but he wasn't sure what...

A few more seconds later and she waved her hand in front of his face checking he was alright. He chuckled slightly as he put her hand down with his own.

"Sorry about that..." he mumbled

She gave him a smile that practically glowed; he couldn't help but start to close the distance between them, her face immediately changed to anxiousness as she swallowed.

He was so close to her when...

"What do we have here?" came Lady Wu's highly amused but somewhat stern voice from the entrance of the stables

The moment immediately passed them by as they looked to see her with her lips pursed together obviously not embarrassed as Da's face immediately went to a crimson red and Ce couldn't meet his mother's eyes.

She let out a light chortle as two young girls who were both clairvoyants about a year older than Ce came behind her. They were identical twin sisters with chestnut hair tied into an intricate bun and wearing traditional formal Chinese dresses making them look regal.

The two girls giggled in unison. "We told you he wouldn't be alone"

Lady Wu shook her head slightly "This isn't what I had in mind though..."

The two hid their giggles behind their hands "We did"

"Hey Ma..." mumbled Ce quietly as he rubbed the back of his head lightly

"I come home expecting to be greeted by my family and not the generals who I don't actually live in the castle and only Quan and Zhou Tai bother to say hello" she cried unimpressed

"Well...we were out..." tried Ce before motioning to Da "This is Da..."

Lady Wu smiled politely at her but could not shake the feeling of familiarity from her while Da managed a small smile as she bowed stiffly.

Lady Wu opened her mouth to speak which Ce had no doubt would embarrass Da and make her shy away.

"We'll go get the others" he said quickly as he put his hands on her shoulders and started to quickly lead her out

Lady Wu put her hands on her hips as the girls behind her giggled.

As soon as they were a safe distance away in the gardens Ce let her go as she smiled hearing Xiao loudly worrying about her.

"You should go calm her down," he said after hearing her and seeing the two failing to calm her down

Da nodded before starting gracefully scamper to Xiao as he followed behind her easily keeping up with his normal speed.

As soon as Xiao caught the slightest glimpse of her sister, she gasped and shouted for her as she ran and tackled her to the ground.

"Sis don't scare me like that again! Okay?" she cried worried

Da nodded with a smile as she sat up.

"Hey Da, glad to see your back, we thought Brother lost you for sure" chirped Shang Xiang

"Yeah!" agreed Xiao scared

"Thanks" came Ce's voice

"They didn't" assured Yu "They were just worried about Da"

"Same thing" muttered Xiao before turning her attention to Da "Are you okay? Did you get you hurt?" she asked concerned

Da shook her head with a happy smile making Xiao sigh in relief.

"Ma wants to see us-" started Ce

"She's back?" asked Shang Xiang more to herself

"Don't worry, I'll get Sis checked out, while you go see the old lady!" chirped Xiao happy to have her sister again

"Do you know where the infirmary is?" asked Ce not believing that she did

Xiao's face faltered "W-well..."

"I'll take them there and follow you on" said Yu as he put a hand on Xiao's shoulder making her happy again

Ce nodded "Right, I'm sure Da's fine though..."

"Well, I don't believe you!" cried Xiao defensively

"Alright, let's go before you make Xiao even angrier!" cried Shang Xiang

Ce took one last look at Da's smile before following Shang Xiang....

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'll take on board what you say!

Remember if you want the next chapter please REVIEW!!

P.S. So happy that Da's back in the game, I know it was announced a while ago but...oh well


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